The organizers of ESL One Cologne have issued a statement that they are currently pessimistic about hosting the tournament in a LAN format. Judging by the latest EU coronavirus pandemic requirements, it will be difficult to gather all the teams in one location.
In early July, European authorities recommended that travel restrictions from fifteen non-European Union countries begin to be lifted. Countries whose residents can now visit 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 for residents of the United States, Brazil and Russia.
ESL One Cologne is currently scheduled for the last week of August. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in July, but was postponed due to the pandemic. ESL recently announced most of the invited participants. They included top teams from around the world including NAVI, fnatic, G2, FaZe and more. Since among the participants there are players from countries for which restrictions are still in place, if the situation does not change in the next month, it will be difficult to organize their personal presence at the championship. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly likely that ESL One Cologne will be held in an online format.
