This weekend’s star-studded IEM San Jose Counter-Strike tournament just lost one of its biggest attractions.
Team EnVyUs — considered by most to be one of the top five Counter-Strike teams in the world — just announced that they won’t be competing this weekend in San Jose, California after all. The reason? They’re based out of France, and the recent terrorist attacks have left the country reeling. They explained in a statement:
“It is with great sadness that we must report our CS:GO team will not be attending @IEM in San Jose. As many of you know, our full team is French and the country is in a trying time. This morning as our players were beginning their travels, multiple airline threats and aeroplane diversions occurred. Simultaneously, additional threats and raids were carried out in Paris.”
“At that time, we decided that the safety of our team members was at risk and to cancel the team’s appearance in San Jose. This brings great disappointment to our organisation as we were looking forward to visiting the American fans and defending our @IEM title. We’d like to thank @ESL, @IEM and our supporters for understanding. Our hearts and thoughts are with the people of France. May they be resilient in this trial they are faced with.”
It’s a shame, but clearly, this is a case of “better safe than sorry.” Real terrorists are hurting people who don’t deserve it and putting others in danger. For now, fictional terrorists and counter-terrorists can wait.
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