FNATIC’s Alfajer Forced To Sit Out First Match of VCT EMEA League

FNATIC are forced to play the first match of 2023 VCT EMEA League without Emir “Alfajer” Beder as the 17-year-old Turk is facing visa issues ahead of the tournament

Visa difficulties keep plaguing the VCT 2023 season. This time it is the LOCK//IN champions who have to deal with the issue. With Alfajer out against Giants Gaming, Maks “kamyk” Rychlewski will step in for the match. Per the Twitter announcement, Alfajer should be available for the match against BBL later this week.

“We're anticipating Alfa back for BBL, and we can't wait to have him back,” the Tweet said. “Kamyk's been practicing hard with the boys, and trust us – he's insane. Let's get it!”

Due to visa issues with @Alfajervl, we'll have @kamykvalo subbing in for our first match of @valesports_emea vs Giants!

We're anticipating Alfa back for BBL, and we can't wait to have him back. Kamyk's been practicing hard with the boys, and trust us – he's insane. Let's get it! pic.twitter.com/iXTyknXS28

— FNATIC (@FNATIC) March 26, 2023

The team director of FNATIC, Colin “Cojo” Johnson, shed some additional insight on the situation. Cojo revealed that several incidents factored in Alfajer not getting the visa. According to Cojo, acquiring the visa should not have been an issue. But due to the appointment date for visa clashing with the LOCK//IN schedule, they had to restart the process. Also, the earthquake in Turkey and the worsening German-Turkey diplomatic relationship further worsened the situation.

We were hoping to receive the visa on Friday but seems it’s likely early next week now. Tldr of why it’s taken this long:

First application took 2 months to process – then our appt was during Brazil semi-finals so had to restart process. Cont… https://t.co/2zvlEbF2Zj

— CoJo (@CoJoPM) March 26, 2023

For now, Alfajer is supposed to sit out only for the Giants matchup. However, if his visa issues are not resolved soon enough, kamyk will have to fill in the boots for the time being.

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