The organizers of an international e-sports tournament on Thursday invited a Taiwanese team to re-enter the competition after they were earlier disqualified for failing to register under the “China subregion.”
The Asian qualifier has been adjusted this year to make it easier for teams to minimize delays when playing across different time zones, the organizers of the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice said in a statement.
The organizers apologized for the inconvenience caused and invited Taiwanese team Sad Story to re-enter the tournament by playing in the Asia Minor Closed Qualifier (China subregion).
Photo courtesy of Sad Story
Earlier this week, Sad Story were disqualified, despite a first-round 16-1 victory over Japanese team Friendly Welcome in a Counter Strike: Global Offensive match in the Southeast Asia qualifier, on the grounds that the “Taiwan team should have played in the China qualifier.”
The team were disqualified after being notified that “Taiwan does not belong to any region recognized by the tournament authorities.”
The organizers said that they use the UN list of countries to determine countries and regions. Taiwan is not a UN member.
The issue led to a protest on Wednesday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which urged the organizers not to deprive the team of their right to play in the event because of the political stance of “a certain country.”
“We have asked the representative office in Frankfurt to verify the issue and have lodged a stern protest with the organizer — Cologne-based Turtle Entertainment — to express our grave concern and stance,” the ministry said in a statement.
Following the incident, Sad Story member Crazy Face posted a message on Facebook saying that he is glad to be able to participate in the games and thanked fans for their support.
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