Renegades & Sharks gave up on ESL Pro League S11 due to coronavirus situation

The organizers of ESL Pro Leagure S11 announced changes in the list of participants in the upcoming championship due to the refusal of Renegades and Sharks to move to Europe to play in the regular season. However, the tournament operator has made changes to the format, which provides for the distribution of teams in groups according to the region of the cor.

Renegades and Sharks have decided not to travel around the world to protect their players from possible infection with coronavirus COVID-19. One of the free slots will take Swole Patrol, and the second substitution will be announced later.

The participation of BIG instead of Heroic has also been officially confirmed. Earlier, the Danish line-up joined the Chinese club FunPlus Phoenix, which acquired a slot in the Flashpoint series.

According to changes in the format, three groups were formed, the matches of which will be take place in the European region, and a separate group for representatives of North America. The decision is due to a ban on air travel between the U.S. and most European countries.

Updated seeding of teams in regular season EPL S11:

Group A

 Astralis
 Vitality
 NiP
 GODSENT
 ENCE
 BOOM

Group В

 Natus Vincere
 fnatic
 North
 forZe
 BIG
 Complexity

Group С (matches will take place online)

 Evil Geniuses
 Liquid
 100 Thieves
 FURIA
 Swole Patrol
TBA

Group D

 mousesports
 G2 
 FaZe
 Virtus.pro
 OG
 TYLOO

The schedule for groups of European teams has remained unchanged, while the matches in North America will be held a little later due to time zone differences.

ESL Pro League S11 will run from March 16 to April 4. All stages of the prestigious championship, including the playoffs, will be held in online format due to the threat of coronavirus infection COVID-19. Initially it was planned to hold a regular season in Malta, and the Finals-stage - in the American Denver.