We are introducing an update to our rulebook to further clarify rule “2.14.1 Withdrawing from the event”. The rule remains unchanged from the previous intent, but will now provide specific conditions that apply to the rule.
Based on the request from Valve, the previous rule was not clear enough and vague in some areas. The changelog for the rule:
Green text shows what has been added to the rulebook
Orange text shows what has been removed from the rulebook
2.14.1 Withdrawing from the event
Participants are considered to have withdrawn from the event if they leave during the
ongoing stage, between the two stages of the event, including its qualifying stage (e.g.,
qualifier and main event), or if they leave after accepting the invitation. In such cases, the
participant will forfeit all prize money accumulated for the event, and penalties may be
imposed. ESL reserves the right to penalise the participant, organisation, and all its members
with fines, relegations, or other sanctions, which may be enforced immediately or in the next
event they participate in within three hundred sixty-five (365) days.
Stricter penalties, including increased fines, suspension from future events, or exclusion from
invitations, may be enforced, particularly in cases of last-minute cancellations or when
replacements result in significantly weaker participation.
Participants will not be penalised if they withdraw from an event due to a second squad from
their organisation qualifying for the event. Additionally, in special cases, tournament
administration may waive penalties if there is an appropriate reason, such as a medical
emergency or visa complications.
Participants are considered to have withdrawn from the event if they leave during the ongoing stage, between the two stages of the event, including its qualifying stage (e.g., qualifier and main event), or if they leave after accepting the invitation. In such cases, the participants will forfeit all prize money accumulated for the event and will be penalised with a ban from the next event of the same tier (e.g. if a team withdraws from a Tier 1 event, they will be banned from the next Tier 1 event they would have been invited to). The team that withdraws will also be fined to cover the cost of their replacement (including, but not limited to, flight expenses for the replacement team and any additional costs incurred). If ESL is unable to find a replacement, the original matches assigned to the team will be forfeited. Additionally, in exceptional cases, tournament administration will waive penalties in the event of a medical emergency or visa complications. To qualify for an exemption:
- For medical emergencies, the team must provide a letter from a licensed doctor explicitly stating that the participant is unable to travel to the event.
- For visa complications, the team must provide official documentation confirming that the visa was denied for reasons outside the participant’s control (e.g., not due to an incorrectly submitted or incomplete application).
Updated Rules
The 16 teams that have accepted their invite for IEM Chengdu 2025 have been granted a window of 48 hours where they can withdraw from the event, which ends Sunday, September 7, 2025 at 23:59 CEST. Should teams withdraw within this window, then they will not be sanctioned one ESL Pro Tour event ban, which would be the tournament following IEM Chengdu 2025, IEM Kraków 2026.
Any dropouts after this deadline would be sanctioned under the updated rule.
OUTRO
To keep up to date with our plans for 2025 and not miss any important updates, as always, make sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow ESLCS on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
