BLAST disputes BESTIA's claim: "[They have] visa appointments, not confirmed visas"

BLAST has sent an official statement to the press this Thursday, May 22nd, which provides further explanations on why BESTIA can't attend the upcoming BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Yesterday, BESTIA's CEO Alejandro "Papo MC" Lococo claimed that Luciano "luchov" Herrera and Martín "tomaszin" Corna would get their visas on Monday, May 26th, and that BLAST chose to replace them with Legacy regardless.

However, BLAST has stated today that these players actually have "visa appointments, not confirmed visas." BLAST also informed that the decision to replace BESTIA with Legacy has been validated by Valve, which probably ends the discussion and commotion that has grown around the BESTIA organization and players over the past days.

BLAST said it had set a clear deadline for the visas yesterday, May 21st, and that all other teams secured their visas for the BLAST.tv Austin Major. The teams had been informed about the U.S. visa process required to attend the Major on February 14th, months before the Major Regional Qualifiers (MRQs) kicked off.

As BESTIA didn't secure all visas required, BLAST replaced them with Legacy. The Brazilian team was the next in line because they lost to BESTIA at final South American MRQ match.

The tournament organizer also informed that BESTIA's "current legal representative" confirmed that BESTIA "began the visa process incorrectly and without proper legal support prior to their involvement."

While BLAST's decision seems final, BESTIA will continue to try to play at the Major. Their CEO Mr. Lococo said he'll provide "highly relevant information" this afternoon.

BLAST's full statement to the media can be read in its entirety below. Please note that since BLAST sent it, the FlyQuest AWPer Iulian "⁠regali⁠" Harjă confirmed that his visa has been approved.

Since February, BLAST has proactively communicated with teams about the US visa process required for the Austin Major. Teams were communicated to on 14th of February following the VRS ranking update, including BESTIA.

This included guidance for teams who qualified or expected to qualify, ensuring ample time to prepare.

BLAST chased for visa status updates on the 23rd and 24th of April and then received a full breakdown showing BESTIA are in the process of obtaining visas for 4 players on 1st of May.

BESTIA were repeatedly provided with follow-ups, support and updated invitation letters for their visa processes upon request.

BESTIA became unresponsive after their players failed to obtain their initial visas.

We set a clear deadline of Wednesday, 21st May at 5pm CEST for their players to have confirmed visas.

As of the deadline, BESTIA was still missing visas for two players.

Due to this, we reassigned the South American slot to Legacy, the next eligible team.

Legacy has secured the necessary visas and is confirmed to attend the Austin Major.

BESTIA communicated at 13:20 CEST 21/05, that they expected Tomazin and Luchov to be approved stating they thought it would be likely that they'd expect to obtain visas on Monday 26th /Tuesday 27th with emergency interviews on Thursday, 22nd May and Friday, 23rd May.

However, these appear to be visa appointments, not confirmed visas and fall short of the requirements we communicated.

This decision has been validated by Valve.

BESTIA’s current legal representative has since confirmed that the team began the visa process incorrectly and without proper legal support prior to their involvement.

All other teams have received their visas for the event, FlyQuest are missing 1 visa for a player who had interviews yesterday. FlyQuest have a substitute with documentation in place.