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ESL teases Major in Rio de Janeiro

Following a cryptic tweet from the ESL, many are now speculating whether the next Major will take place in... Fragster | 24. May 2022

Following a cryptic tweet from the ESL, many are now speculating whether the next Major will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city was supposed to host a CS:GO Major back in 2020, however, the event was cancelled as a result of the global pandemic. Now, fans are hoping that Rio will get another chance to host a Major.

On its official Twitter account, ESL recently posted a 3-minute-long video, showing a still painting of Rio de Janeiro with the caption “cs_rio” along with a song by the Brazilian musician José Bezerra da Silva. 

While Brazil has a large and passionate fan base, the country suffers from a lack of top-class CS:GO events staged in the region. The last international events held in the country were Dreamhack Open Rio and BLAST São Paulo in 2019. Prior to that, Brazil hosted ESL One Belo Horizonte in 2018 and EPL Season 4 Finals in 2016.

Brazil unlucky as a host

By the end of 2019, ESL revealed its intention to hold a CS:GO Major in Brazil. The ESL One Rio was first scheduled for May 2020. However, with the outbreak of the coronavirus in early 2020, it quickly became clear that hosting the Major in spring simply wouldn’t be feasible. 

Consequently, the Major was rescheduled for November 2020. Following this news, ESL continued to host the Road to Rio Regional Major Ranking Events to determine the teams that would qualify for the Major in Rio. However, due to continued complications caused by the global pandemic, ESL cancelled the event completely later in September. This was obviously a huge disappointment for fans, especially those from Brazil. 

The next Major was not played until November 2021, when PGL held the competition in Stockholm, Sweden. While PGL followed with another Major in Antwerp, ESL hasn’t hinted anything about its plans. Until now. 

New chance for Rio de Janeiro?

As the ESL tweet spreads among the fans worldwide, many seem to be hoping for another shot at a Major in Rio de Janeiro. The tweet, after all, does lead one to the conclusion that the ESL One Rio might return as the second major event of 2022.

Should ESL One Rio actually become the second Major CS:GO tournament of the year, it will likely take place during the first weeks of November. ESL is expected to reveal more information soon.

Header: ESL