Virtus.pro roster to compete at IEM Rio Major 2022 under Outsiders tag

The roster of players representing the Virtus.pro organization will compete at IEM Rio Major 2022 under the neutral Outsiders tag. This is evidenced by Major team stickers released early today.

Earlier, Virtus.pro CEO Aram Karamanukyan stated that all teams "can and will" play under the auspices of the club. The head of VP, who was announced as the new owner in mid-September, expressed hope that ESL would follow the example of PGL, which lifted the sanctions imposed on Virtus.pro due to the organization's ties to the Russian government after the invasion of Ukraine and allowed to use the original name at The International 2022.

Outsiders qualified for IEM Rio Major 2022 from the last place of the European RMR tournament and will start the competition from the initial phase, which is the Challengers Stage. The Russian squad got the better of Monte, Heroic and Falcons but lost to NAVI and OG.

The upcoming Major in Rio will take place from October 31 to November 13. The 24 strongest teams in the world will battle out a prize pool of $1.25 million.