The organizers of ESL One Cologne issued a statement that they are currently pessimistic about holding the tournament in a LAN format. Judging by the latest requirements to combat the coronavirus pandemic in force in the European Union, it will be difficult to gather all the teams in one location.
In early July, European authorities recommended starting to lift restrictions on entry from fifteen countries outside the European Union. Countries whose residents can now travel to the EU again include China, Canada and Australia. However, states where the number of confirmed coronavirus cases is still high are excluded from the list. In particular, the borders remain closed to residents of the USA, Brazil and Russia.
ESL One Cologne is currently scheduled for the last week of August. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in July, but was postponed due to the pandemic. ESL recently announced most of the invited participants. They included leading teams from different countries, including NAVI, fnatic, G2, FaZe and others. Since among the participants there are players from countries for which restrictions remain, if the situation does not change in the next month, it will be difficult to organize their personal presence at the championship. Therefore, the likelihood that ESL One Cologne will be held online is becoming increasingly significant.
