MIBR confirmed for ECL S44

Dust2.us has confirmed with MIBR and sources within ESL that the Brazilian organization have confirmed their participation in ESL Challenger League Season 44. The confirmation of MIBR's ability to compete in the league directly contradicts a December 19th statement by ESL Faceit Group's Senior Vice President of Game Ecosystems, Ulrich "theflyingdj" Schulze, on Reddit, which emphatically stated that "MIBR will no longer be allowed in ECL NA".

Schulze's original statement on Reddit was a response to anger from a fan after MIBR managed to obtain the South American ESL World Ranking invite to IEM Katowice 2023 over 9z and Fluxo. The confusion on the fan's part was largely due to the fact that unlike 9z and Fluxo, MIBR in 2022 had no real ties to the Brazilian scene, only playing a handful of qualifiers in the region but otherwise being based in North America. Despite this, ESL, possibility erroneously, had MIBR listed as a South American team since January 26th, 2022 at the latest.

Dust2.us understands from sources with knowledge of the situation that ultimately MIBR were given the choice of committing to be based in either North America or South America. After a period of deliberation, the Immortals Gaming Club-owned squad elected to stay in North America potentially due to their strong ties to the region and the prospect of qualifying to ESL Pro League via the North American ESL Challenger League division.

MIBR are set to join LOS + oNe and paiN as the three Brazilian teams in ECL Season 44 when it kicks off on January 17th.