Aunkere set to miss out on RMR; Benched Heroes attendance in doubt

Eugene “⁠Aunkere⁠” Karyat has been ruled out of IEM Road to Rio 2022 Europe RMR following a rejected visa application. The 22-year-old’s absence confirms reports by Dust2.dk and cybersport.ru, which indicated that Russian players will struggle to obtain visas for the event.

At the same time, Owen “⁠smooya⁠” Butterfield announced in a tweet that the team is also waiting for Buğra “⁠Calyx⁠” Arkın‘s visa decision, happening on Tuesday. If the Turkish player doesn’t obtain the required permission, the team’s only chance to attend would be to use an emergency stand-in, something they have not been granted permission for at this time, according to the British AWPer.

Aunkere is ruled out of the RMR event

Teams are allowed to use one substitute player according to ESL’s rulebook, with Benched Heroes opting to put down Thomas “⁠Thomas⁠” Utting for the role. The British player is now set to replace Aunkere on the lineup, but without Calyx, they would still be one player short and unable to compete. The rules do state that the submitted coach can act as a substitute, but only where no substitute player is registered. This means that the team would be unable to field five players if Calyx‘s visa application gets rejected.

If Benched Heroes are to miss out, the rules state that they will be replaced by Illuminar, as their 7th place finish in the fourth open qualifier makes them the highest seeded team.