The coronavirus pandemic has swept over pretty much all the in-person esports tournaments and meets. As the world is finally flattening the curve and cities are slowly opening up, we finally have a world on what could be the first major esports tournament of 2020.
Riot Games has announced that it will hold the League of Legends World Championship 2020 in Shanghai starting from September 25th. The finals will take place in the Pudong Soccer Stadium are large crowds of enthusiastic attendees are expected. The newly developed stadium has a capacity of holding 33,000 people and, if it all goes as planned, all the seats will be filled.
The Play-in, knockout and main event stages of the World Championship will be held online with regards to stopping the spread of the virus. Only the final match will be held with a live audience on October 31st.
It appears as if Riot Games is working closely with the local authorities and the Chinese Government to make the League of Legends World Championship possible in 2020. The highest standards of safety and sanitization will be observed to protect the fans, players and everyone else involved in the game. Although the coronavirus originated in China, the authorities managed to curb the curve and keep the infections in check with an iron fist. Right now, in 2020, China is open and locals are travelling about the country.
International tourism in China is still tricky. At the moment, China is not accepting any foreign tourists. On the other hand, local government bodies around the world are advising their citizens to abstain from travel to China. As such, it seems only the Chinese citizens will be able to attend the League of Legends World Championship, while the rest of us have to suffice with a live stream.
“We continue to use the guidance from various health organizations and local and national authorities to prioritize safety for our players, fans, and everyone involved with bringing Worlds 2020 to life,” Riot said in a statement. There were no further details about the precautions. It’s quite likely social distancing would be observed and every alternate seat would be left empty, thus virtually rendering the total capacity of the stadium to a mere 16500 people.
It’s quite likely the tournament will be restricted to a bubble, however, Riot confirmed that the world Championship will return to China in 2021 for a countrywide tour. North America, which was scheduled for the 2021 world championship, will have to wait till 2022.