A noteworthy development in the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) scene. The ESL and BLAST lift the ban on the Virtus.pro team, meaning the team is no longer restricted in the professional CS:GO circuits.
The two organizations, both ESL and BLAST, announced yesterday, March 22, that the legendary Virtus.pro team can now return to the CS:GO tournament circuit.
ESL and BLAST remove the ban from Virtus.pro
Team Virtus.pro has been banned from the professional CS:GO circuits for over a year. The team’s cause for this ban was their ties with the Russian government during the ongoing war with Ukraine.
The ban on the team is lifted after Virtus.pro cut all ties with the Russian government. This comes months after VK announced it had sold the team.
After the news was made public by tournament organizers ESL and BLAST, Virtus.pro’s organization echoed this information on its news portal. Eventually, the organization, which a polar bear represents, will return to professional competitions organized by both BLAST and ESL.
From the time of the team’s ban until now, the Virtus.pro team competed under the name Outsiders. However, they can now use their name and crest again.
In a statement issued by the team, Virtus.pro CEO Nikolai Petrossian says that they are very happy and applaud the decision made by ESL and BLAST to allow the team to return to their competitions.
He further comments that the team went through a long and rigorous review, where they proved that Virtus.pro meets all the necessary standards to be included in the tournaments again.
— Virtus.pro (@virtuspro) March 22, 2023
Virtus.pro returns to CS:GO servers without Outsiders
The CS:GO team will no longer carry the name “Outsiders”; from now on, the squad will carry its original Virtus.pro name.
They are starting with the BLAST.TV Paris Major 2023, Virtus.pro will return to the arena with its uniform, name, and crest. The squad leaves the Outsider’s name and the difficult banning stage in the past. However, the fact that they were the winners of the IEM Rio Major 2022 will remain in people’s memories forever.
Despite the difficult moments, the competitive scenarios welcome the team that has overcome a great number of obstacles.
The return of Virtus.pro in the tournaments will be seen in a very short time. On Thursday, April 6, the team arrives at the RMR Europe A to face SAW. This time the team will give its best to fight for victory in its Virtus.pro jersey.