Representatives of CIS CS:GO eSports scene have spoken about COVID-19 situation

Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19 across the world, tournament operators are forced to cancel, reschedule or put on hold their planned competitions. CSGO.com have spoken with the representatives of the CIS Counter-Strike professional scene about the impact of the deadly coronavirus pandemic on eSports.

David "n0rb3r7" Danielyan, Syman player:

"I hope that by April the virus situation will improve. I do not really want to play the minor online. The virus will affect e-Sports, but I do not know what will happen. If we live, we'll see."

Andrey "Jerry" Mekhryakov, player forZe:

"The coronavirus has done a lot of damage and will harm even more the industry. Many tournaments go online, many exhibitions related to games are postponed/changed, and this is very sad... I am afraid that in the next six months and a year a vaccine may not be invented, because it is a complicated process. Borders close, countries stop letting people in... Well, that's bad. I hope the momentum is still positive and that people will recover.

Alexei "NickelBack" Trofimov, pro100 player:

"I didn't get much into the issue, but obviously it's bad. All the tournaments will be postponed or played on the Internet. I hope that all this will pass soon. But maybe ALEX will come back in Vitality."

Dimitri "Dima" Bandurka, Espada player:

"I treat the virus like a common cold. It's bad that they cancel the championships, but it's understandable - the virus has a negative impact on all spheres."

Dmytro "iksou" Mikhailichenko, coach of EXTREMUM:

"Once I was afraid of flying, and in order to get over the fear, I tried to study as much as possible everything related to flying, from technical issues to every sound, every feeling I felt while in the passanger seat. In the end, this approach freed me from the fear of flying, and now flying is no different for me than being in a car.
That's what I did with the fear of COVID-19: I just started to explore the issue as much as I could. And there are no more personal fears.
I don't think anyone in eSports, even if infected, faces anything more significant than the usual consequences of any viral disease. However, I think that measures to prevent the spread of the epidemic, including restrictions on activities, are reasonable because of the fact that for a certain number of people this virus is really dangerous: for people with weak immunity (mostly elderly people), for those who have serious problems with the respiratory tract. This risk group has a high chance of serious complications in any infection, including influenza. The difference is that there are no preventive measures (vaccines) against coronavirus infection, and the virus and human immunity are fought one-on-one. In this case, COVID-19 as a new virus is aggressive and strong, but every month it weakens when faced with human immunity. As a result, I am convinced that by June, the spread of the virus will have fallen drastically, and by autumn, it will no longer have the same meaning for society as it does now.
I am not an expert in virology, like most people who pretend to be experts, and I do not pretend that my opinion has any meaning, but this is how I see the picture and this is how I draw conclusions for myself.

Anatoly "liTTle" Yashin, coach forZe:

"The whole spirit of the competitive process and what all the eSports in the world have been striving for for the last 20 years is a LAN game with the audience, and at the moment we have lost all that. Of course, it's a big blow to the entire eSports community. It's a shame to miss major LAN tournaments, but as they say, health is more expensive. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, the virus will recede."

 Earlier, due to concerns about the coronavirus, the organizers of the IEM Katowice 2020 had to give up spectators at the Spodek Arena, and the day before it was announced that the regular season of the Pro-League will be run online, as the authorities of Malta, which was to become the venue of the competition, announced quarantine throughout the country. In order to protect players from possible infection with a deadly infection, Flashpoint moved the final of the first season from Stockholm to Los Angeles, where the teams will also play without fans.