Team Instinct from Bangladesh in Danger of Missing Out on PMPL Due to Passport Related Problems

Team Instinct are the only Bangladeshi team who qualified for PMPL South Asia. While the team had a solid performance in the PMCO South Asia finals, finishing in second place, it seems as if their fairy tale run might be coming to an early end. The players in the team did not have their passports and only applied for it after qualifying. As a result, the entire process of procuring a passport and then a VISA is taking them a lot longer and the team is cutting it really close with respect to the deadline.

With the only three weeks in between the conclusion of the PMCO South Asia Finals and the beginning of PMPL, the team have been struggling to complete the paperwork required to finish their VISA process. Currently, the players are waiting on their passport, after which they will have to apply for a visa, which will take another 3-4 days to process. With just one week remaining, the team is playing it very close to the edge. 

What’s even more difficult is the deadline imposed on them via the organizers. The team is expected to send over their passport details by the end of this week and arrive in India by the 9th of March. At this point, it's unlikely that the team will be able to meet these deadlines. However, they run the risk of disqualification should they be unable to meet the deadlines. While the team has requested the organizers and PUBG Mobile officials to extend the date, there has been no official communication regarding the same. 

As per our last conversation with the team, apparently there has been some software issues at the passport office, which has further prevented delayed the team. Since offices are shut on Friday and Saturday in the country, the team is estimating that they can only get their passports on Sunday at the earliest and then apply for the visa. 

Team Instinct are the only team from Bangladesh, who have qualified for PMPL South Asia and are the only hopes from the country to go ahead and represent them in the World League and World Championship. Straight up disqualifying them will certainly have a negative impact on the country and the community and might not be in the best interest of the organizers. On the other hand, if the team are stuck without passports and visas, the entire tournament will suffer and the integrity of the competition will be affected. 

Since the issue cannot really be solved by the players and/or Tencent directly, effective communication is the only thing that can salvage it at this point. If no side is willing to work and cooperate with the other then unfortunately it is easy to foresee a bitter end to this.