Due to coronavirus outbreak, the Leipzig Major players can’t join their families

Chinese government extended the weeklong Lunar New Year until the end of next Sunday in order to limit the travel traffic and prevent as much as possible new infections with the coronavirus. However, for the Chinese players that fought for the Leipzig Major trophy last week in Germany, this is not good news.

All Chinese teams managed to travel back in China, Aster leaving a few days before the tournament ended, while Invictus and Vici Gaming landed safe today, January 27. DreamLeague Season 13: The Leipzig Major was held during the Chinese new year. VG, for instance, had games to play on New Year’s Eve, January 25 and on the first day of the New Year, January 26. They finished in third place at this Major, and although they are already in their home country, a spokesman person declared to VPESports that none of the three teams will let their players go to their homes and reunite with their loved ones due to the ongoing coronavirus spread.

According to the same spokesperson, Vici Gaming have a few players from the Hubei Province, located in Central China, with the capital city at Wuhan, the ground zero of coronavirus outbreak in China. None of the players will be allowed to return home, for obvious reasons. At the same time, Team Aster have a player from their youth division blocked in Hubei without a computer. The team reported to VPEsports that they are doing everything possible to send him “some equipment so he can at least practice for the upcoming regional qualifiers, but right now all the ground transportation is prioritized towards getting medical equipment and medications into Hubei so all other non-essential shipments are very slow.”

The regional qualifiers for the ESL One Los Angeles Major and the StarLadder ImbaTV Minor are scheduled to start on the 9th of February.

According to multiple sources from the Chinese professional scene, the teams there discuss to file a petition to Valve asking to delay the group stage matches for the Chinese region due to the ongoing unfortunate event in China. With the Lunar New Year prolonged vacation and some of the Major cities in quarantine, some professional players might not even be able to join the qualifiers bootcamps.