Riot has revealed that it has made the decision to relocate the League of Legends Worlds 2021 tournament from China to Europe. Brought to light in a video hosted by John Needham, global head of esports at Riot, it was mentioned that having the event at a location that promoted the best possible access for the teams was absolutely crucial.
Here's what Needham had to say on the matter:
"With the Delta variant, travel restrictions and Covid protocols have been even more complicated to navigate in 2021 than they were in 2020. Sadly, we reached the point where it is extremely difficult to guarantee that qualifying teams and their best players would be able to attend Worlds this year. As a result, we've made the tough decision to pivot Worlds from China to Europe."
Riot has not yet revealed any further details on Worlds 2021, so we currently have no idea where it will be hosted, but the late change and concerns around Covid-19, does lead us to believe that the tournament will be played behind closed doors once again.
