Russian VALORANT players will probably be banned from playing at VCT Masters Reykjavik

Yuvansh Ruia
|PublishedMar 28, 2022

VALORANT players who reside in Russia could face a potential ban from attending the first international event of the year due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Two teams that have qualified for VCT Master from the EMEA region are Fnatic and FunPlus Phoenix, with both the teams having Russian players. And both teams might need to find substitute players to attend Masters 1 Reykjavik. The tournament will be held from April 10 to April 30.

The potential ban would affect Russian players such as “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin, Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky, and Andrew “braveaf” Gorchakov. It remains unclear whether Ukrainian player Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov, will be allowed to travel to the event.

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Potential ban of Russian players

Tournament host Riot Games is set to inform teams as to whether it will be possible for players to use their starting lineup by Monday, March 28, according to multiple sources. Unless a workaround can be achieved, it remains unlikely that Russian players can attend the tournament.

Since VCT Masters is an international event, players will need to travel to attend it. But due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, many European countries have closed their airspace to Russian-owned aircraft.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24 and remains ongoing. Today, Ukrainian forces have reoccupied several key locations to the west of the capital city of Kyiv, while Russian forces are continuing their advances on Mariupol, as reported by BBC News.

Also read: Valorant Masters: Here are the first 3 teams to qualify for Masters 1 Reykjavik from the EMEA region