ESL One Birmingham 2024: 1win Claims Having No Visa Issues as ESL Hands Slot to OG

A few weeks before ESL One Birmingham 2024, controversy seems to have struck ESL, organizers of this Dota 2 tournament, who announced earlier today on 9^th April 2024, that OG would replace 1win as the organization could not field an eligible roster for the event due to visa issues.

Within an hour of this decision being published by ESL, a statement was made by Timur "Ahilles" Kulmuhambetov, Coach of 1win, claiming that all their players were set to go to England for the tournament with their visas and passports ready.

"ESL took the slot away from us and gave it to the OG team," read the statement by Ahilles, posted via 1win's social media handle.

ESL One Birmingham 2024: Drama Spurs as 1win Claims ESL Took Its Spot Despite Having Eligible Visas and Passports

A decision taken by ESL regarding 1win's situation in regards to the upcoming ESL One Birmingham 2024 stated, “Despite extending the Visa deadline to 12:00 CEST for all teams, 1win were unable to field an eligible roster in time for ESL One Birmingham 2024 due to Visa issues."

The statement further clarified that the next Dota 2 team from the Eastern Europe Closed Qualifiers, Virtus.pro, would also be unable to attend the tournament due to similar reasons.

Hence, the next team receiving the invite would be OG, who finished second in the Western Europe Closed Qualifier and have already confirmed their eligibility to enter the United Kingdom.

However, this decision seems to have raised concern as 1win’s coach, Ahilles shared that their roster is ready to go to England for the tournament and have the eligible visas and passports.

"Expect an official announcement and full story from us," read a statement from Ahilles, who further claimed, "ESL took the slot away from us and gave it to OG."

Former Dota 2 player and current analyst, Maurice "KheZu" Gutmann, showcased displeasure with the statement made by Ahilles regarding their slot being given away to OG.

KheZu pointed out that ESL had provided all teams an extended deadline to meet the required visa requirements and only took action thereafter, further commenting, "One thing I hate in esports is people lying and twisting things in their favor cuz everyone's mentally 12."

At the time of writing, the expected detailed announcement by 1win regarding their visa problem as promised by Ahilles has not been released by the Russian esports organization.

For now, 1win’s slot for ESL One Birmingham 2024 has been officially handed over to OG by the organizers, scheduled to take place from 22^nd to 28^th April 2024.