Virtus.pro, which competes in international tournaments under the name Outsiders, has withdrawn from the European qualifier for IEM Dallas 2022 due to visa issues. Their place will be taken by Apeks, who took the high position from the open qualifying results. This news looks especially unpleasant for the CIS team, as they were among the favorites, and it was believed that they were very likely to get to the next stage.
In addition, it was also reported today that Latvian cybersport player Marek «YEKINDAR» Galinskis is considering leaving Outsiders after the end of the major. In a recent interview, Virtus.pro head Sergey Glamazda mentioned that YEKINDAR is in the most difficult position of all roster players: he is from Latvia, and his opinion about what is happening in Ukraine differs from the common one in Russia. Because of this, he faces a lot of pressure but still continues to perform at a high level. YEKINDAR himself previously noted that he was considering a move to another team due to the fact that sanctions are limiting Outsiders/Virtus.pro's ability to compete.
The IEM Dallas tournament is scheduled to take place between May 30 and June 5. Most of the competitors have already been decided and the last two teams will be selected by closed qualification for the European region.