The team’s jungler will not be able to renew his passport in time for the tournament.
SK Gaming might not have qualified for the 2020 World Championship just yet, but they’ve already hit a snag in their aspirations for the tournament.
Jungler Kim “Trick” Gang-yun will not be eligible to compete in Shanghai due to “an oversight” by the team and the player, according to a report by ESPN’s Jacob Wolf.
Last month, LEC officials contacted all participating teams for copies of their players’ passports to help begin the process of acquiring Chinese visas. COVID-19 has made it especially complicated for Riot Games to ensure all players are able to attend, especially if they are from a Western region.
Unfortunately, in order to apply for a visa to China, the passport must have six months or more left on its term—Trick’s had less than six, which means he will not be able to join the team in Shanghai should they qualify for the tournament.
If the team does qualify for Worlds, reports suggest the team will shift over jungler Marc “Canee” Behrend as Trick’s substitute for the event. Trick joined SK back at the start of the 2020 season, and has helped the team finish in fifth place with a 9-9 record.
Canee was acquired by SK this past month, but he had last competed for OP Innogy—a German esports organization which recently played in the 2020 Prime League Pro Division and the 2019 Winter ESL Meisterschaft.
Trick, meanwhile, is still able to participate in the 2020 LEC Summer Playoffs, which will be starting on Friday, Aug. 21. Hopefully, he is able to help his team into Worlds, before he is benched until the start of the next season.
