The excitement of the crowd is an essential ingredient in major CS:GO LAN events, especially at traditional events like IEM Katowice. Fan meetings, the moments players are welcomed on stage, and the roaring cheers during spectacular plays are unforgettable experiences for any audience attending these events live.
However, immediately after the group stage concluded, both fans and professional players competing at IEM Katowice 2020 received unfortunate news from the organizers: the playoffs will take place without any audience, meaning no fans will be allowed at the venue to support their teams.
More surprisingly, this announcement was made even though Poland (where the tournament is held) had not reported any cases of the Corona virus, and prior to this, the city of Katowice had confirmed that the event could proceed as planned. Shocked by the new notification, ESL officially responded:
“At 19:54 local time, we were informed by the Silesian authorities that our event permit for IEM Katowice has been revoked. Previously, we had received multiple confirmations that we were allowed to host this event. The last confirmation we received was just a few hours ago. However, the Governor of Silesia, Jaroslaw Wieczorek, issued a decision to withdraw their approval for organizing public events in Katowice, Poland.”
“With this decision, IEM Katowice 2020 will take place without any audience. ESL respects this decision of the local authorities and is working to contact ticket vendors, customers, and media outlets. All sold tickets will be fully refunded. The tournament will still proceed and be broadcasted in full, but there will be no cheering audience. We apologize to all fans and players.”
This is a significant loss for ESL specifically and the CS:GO community in general, as the playoff matchups for IEM Katowice had just been determined. In the quarter-finals, Na`Vi will face Liquid while fnatic goes up against 100 Thieves, with G2 and Astralis waiting in the semifinals.
The gaming and eSports industry has been severely impacted by the global spread of the Corona virus. Numerous major events have been canceled or not held as planned, with the most notable being the postponement of the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, and many major Overwatch events in China and South Korea being canceled.