We started to receive first reports and warnings about a cancelled flight from Dreamhack Las Vegas back to Europe on Tuesday. We were also informed that this would likely prevent certain teams from being able to be in place for their matches this week. Teams affected included Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas and Virtus.pro. After receiving further information throughout last night and earlier this morning, we felt it necessary to invoke special circumstances and cancel the three affected matches this week and reschedule them to a later point which has not been defined yet.
Please note that, absent extraordinary circumstances such as we face here, rescheduling matches is not possible in the League. However, due to the special circumstances and the delays caused by the airline, we are granting a special exception. Players affected by this will in some cases arrive home after their official match start or just a short time before the start of their match after being on the road and traveling for more than 72 hours in a stressful and exhausting situation out of their control.
Ruling
This week’s matches in the European division between Natus Vincere and North (Wednesday 19:00 CET), Ninjas in Pyjamas and Fnatic (Thursday 19:00 CET) and Virtus.pro vs. HellRaisers (Thursday 21:20 CET) will be rescheduled after the League declared special circumstances due to a cancelled flight – further impacted by delays – which affected three of the participating teams.
The rescheduled matches will take place on as follows (all times in CET):
- Ninjas in Pyjamas vs. FNATIC – March 21st, 21:20 and 22:30
- Natus Vincere vs. North – March 22nd, 19:00 and 20:10
- Virtus.pro vs. HellRaisers – March 22nd, 21:20 and 22:30
- G2 Esports vs. FNATIC – March 29th, 19:00 (BO1)
Additionally, information about rescheduled matches from Tuesday, March 14th, will follow as soon as dates and times are confirmed.
Follow for further updates
Be sure to follow ESL CS on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for further information and updates on new match dates for the cancelled matches once it has been decided.