Rumor: SK Gaming’s Trick Cannot Attend Worlds Due To Visa Mixup
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author David Hollingsworth
SK Gaming could face a serious roster issue if it qualifies for Worlds.
SK Gaming jungler Kim “Trick” Gang-yun will be eligible for Worlds 2020 if his SK Gaming side is able to qualify for the event via the LEC playoffs. The oversight comes from both team and player, with sources making ESPN aware that Trick’s passport has less than the required amount of time left on it to qualify for a Chinese visa.
Back in mid-July, LEC officials contacted all teams for copies of their players’ passports so that they could begin vetting them ahead of applying for a Chinese visa. Riot is taking extra steps this year due to COVID-19, especially for players in the West, to ensure they’ll be able to enter the country safely. With the event set to take place in Shanghai from September 25 – October 31st in a bubble environment, Trick’s passport does not have enough time on it (6 months) to be granted a visa.
The report goes on the state that SK Gaming left it close to the deadline to post passport information to LEC officials, with just 6 months left on his South Korean passport, Trick and SK Gaming are unable to get a renewal in time meaning that if SK Gaming make Worlds Trick cannot attend.
Canee as a likely substitute
If SK Gaming does qualify, they will send Marc “Canee” Behrent instead. Canee is signed until the end of 2021 and would be SK Gaming’s only real option outside of a loan from an LEC team. SK Gaming would need to end the LEC split inside the top 4 to make Worlds, with one spot already guaranteed to Rogue, they face stiff competition anyway.
Ultimately, it’s an awkward oversight during a time of global panic, which would see the LEC send an arguably weaker team to Worlds. Right now, the best solution for SK Gaming might be to just use Canee during playoffs so at least he’s prepared if the team makes it. That said, Trick has been a star player for SK Gaming this year and a huge part of their Summer Split revival, so they might just choose to quality with Trick then worry about what to do next after the fact.
David has written for games media outlets for the last ten years. With his first major esports role being with Esports News UK covering mostly UK League of Legends. David is also a member of the British Esports Association and is an advisor to them on World of Warcraft Esports. More recently David has worked for Esports Insider and Red Bull as an esports journalist.
David later became Editor at ESTNN and now leads the current team.