Recently, the General Administration of Sports of China issued a decree to cancel all sports events in the country from now until the end of 2020, due to the complex developments of pandemic issues and natural disasters prevailing in China.
This announcement almost means that the League of Legends World Championship 2020 – the Esports tournament set to take place in Shanghai later this year – is also at risk of being cancelled. In another development, ESPN has confirmed that China will still host the 2021 Worlds, while the hosting rights for this tournament in North America and South Korea will be postponed for a year.
This raises further concerns that Worlds 2020 may indeed be postponed or worse, could be cancelled, as China’s continued hosting of the 2021 Worlds suggests that the country will miss out on this year’s tournament.
However, whether Worlds 2020 will be cancelled based on this decree remains uncertain. Experts indicate they are still investigating whether this League of Legends tournament falls under the criteria of “Sports activities required to be suspended” by the General Administration of Sports of China.
If it does not fall under these criteria, then Worlds 2020 still has a chance to occur, but it will have to shift from an offline event to an online format, similar to some friendly tournaments like the Mid-Season Cup held earlier this season.
In the latest statement regarding this issue, Riot Games is considering organizing Worlds 2020 in an online format. The event will still take place in Shanghai, with 24 participating teams flying in on special flights to China under the supervision of authorities, undergoing quarantine, and then each team will be accommodated in separate hotels.
At this “base camp”, teams will be provided with all necessary equipment for training and competition, participating in online matches similar to what occurred during the peak of the pandemic.
A representative from Riot also acknowledged that this plan would significantly increase the costs of organizing the tournament, but it is almost the most viable way to keep the hope of “saving” Worlds 2020 alive. However, this plan also requires the approval of the Chinese Government before it can be implemented.
Another option is to change the host country, but this would not resolve the issue of whether players from pandemic-affected regions can participate. Moreover, it is already too late for another region to prepare the infrastructure and organization for an international tournament like Worlds.
Before Worlds 2020, MSI 2020 and TI10 were two of the prestigious Esports tournaments worldwide that were cancelled due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.