BLAST won't invite Russian-based teams to its events

The BLAST Premier tournament series is amongst the highest-level CS:GO competitions and features the best CS:GO teams from all around the world. Teams compete for a place in the Spring Showdown, ahead of the prestigious Spring Finals.

But it looks like some teams will be barred from the tournament as the competition looks to distance itself from some of the recent geopolitical events. Additional events have also been cancelled in wake of the ongoing conflict and the landscape will certainly be shaken up.

Some top teams will miss out on one of the biggest events of the year as a result of the action. Check out all the news after it was announced BLAST won't invite Russian-based teams to its events.

BLAST bans Russian based teams from events

In wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, BLAST Premier has moved to discontinue invites to teams based in Russia. The decision from the BLAST tournament organizers means teams like Virtus.pro and Gambit will miss out on some of the year's top competitions.

In addition to the pulling of invites, the CIS qualifier for the BLAST Spring Showdown has also been cancelled. This decision comes with the team's Virtus.pro, Entropiq, forZe, and Spirit who are now on the outside looking in, as they were all set to participate in the qualification competition.

While there has been no further word on what the future ramifications will be of this action. The BLAST Premier team did put out an official statement to their social media outlets addressing the situation.

"We are sorry to our fans and players from the CIS region for this decision, but we do not think it is appropriate that this event goes ahead, at this time," BLAST said in their official post. Here's everything BLAST said about the decision to not invite Russian-based teams to its events.

pic.twitter.com/jP1rbXahAb

— BLAST Premier (@BLASTPremier) March 1, 2022

• Read more: BLAST reveals details and format for the Spring Showdown 2022

BLAST Premier is not the only entity in the gaming/esports world to take action against Russian players in wake of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. EA Sports recently announced they would be removing all Russian national teams and clubs from their FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online titles.

Make sure to check out the rest of our dedicated CS:GO page for all the latest from the Valve Corp/Hidden Path Entertainment title.

Featured image courtesy of BLAST.