Bren Esports out of Valorant Masters Berlin due to visa issues

Bren Esports, VCT Stage 3 SEA top seed squad, will miss the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour Masters 3 in Berlin, Germany, which will start on September 10, 2021.

According to Riot Games, Bren will not be able to join the Valorant Champions Tour: Stage 3 Masters Berlin due to visa issues.

"With tightening travel restrictions around the world due to changing COVID-19 developments, we were unable to secure the necessary travel visas for Bren Esports, the No. 1 seeded team from Southeast Asia," said Valorant Esports head of competitive operations Alex Francois in a statement.

Riot also said that it worked with the Philippine and German governments but to no avail.

"This was a tough decision and we share in the disappointment of our players and fans. Despite this setback, we are proud of Bren Esports' achievements in VCT so far and look forward to their participation in future events," added Francois.

In a separate statement after Riot Games' decision, Bren Esports said that they exhausted possible options to travel to Germany but were unsuccessful.

"Given the unfavourable circumstances, tight deadlines, and travel restrictions that are out of our control, our team will be unable to travel to Berlin to compete," said PH team Bren Esports.

Without Bren Esports in VCT Masters Berlin, Riot Games decided to proceed with 15 teams and awarded the all-Filipino team with 175 VCT points and the prize for qualifying for the tournament.

Moreover, Group D, where Bren Esports was supposed to play alongside Sentinels (NA), G2 Esports (EMEA), and F4Q (KR), will play under a double-round robin format. The top two squads of the group will advance to the playoffs, while the third-placed team will be eliminated. On the other hand, the rest of the groups will remain unaffected.

Bren Esports qualified for the VCT Masters Berlin after defeating Singapore's Paper Rex in the SEA Playoffs on August 22. Bren is composed of Riley "Witz" Go, Jayvee "Dubstep" Paguirigan, Jim "Borkum" Timbreza, Kevin "Dispenser" Te, and Jessie "JessieVash" Cuyco.

With Bren out, Singapore's Paper Rex will be Southeast Asia's sole representative at the tournament.

Also read:

VCT Masters Berlin Game Format, Teams, Schedule, Streams

2021 VCT Masters Berlin will take place from September 10 to 19 at the Verti Music Hall in the German capital Berlin. It will feature 15 teams worldwide battling it out to claim a direct spot to the Valorant Champions 2021, the end-of-year Valorant World Final tournament.