Brazilian teams may be excluded from the ESL Challenger League for North America

According to a post posted by Ulrich Schulze on Reddit, Brazilian teams will no longer compete in the ESL Challenger League North American Championships. According to the senior vice president of the ESL Faceit Group, MIBR and other teams were given an exception, but this ended with the end of 2022.

Our regional distribution is based on residency, and MIBR's residency is South America. The reason they competed in the ESL Challenger League in North America was because of the grandfather's exception (meaning they had played there in the past and were allowed to continue). For the reasons you mentioned, this exclusion ends at the end of 2022, so going forward they will no longer play in the ESL Challenger League in North America.

This unexpected announcement came as a big surprise as MIBR has consistently been the top team in the ESL Challenger League since joining the region in 2022. The Brazilian team won the 40th season at the beginning of the year, finished third in the 42nd season and most recently won the 43rd season.

Probably the reason why Schulze spoke to the fans is the fans' dissatisfaction with the fact that MIBR took away a place from 9z at IEM Katowice 2023 from South America. Indeed, the Brazilian team qualified for the championship through the Latin American slot, although they do not actually play in their home region.

It remains to wait for further clarifications from the tournament operator ESL. However, it is possible that other Brazilian teams will also be banned from the ESL Challenger League next season.

Recall that MIBR became the winner of ESL Challenger League Season 43: North America, thanks to which it qualified for ESL Pro League Conference Season 17. In addition, the day before, the Brazilian team was included in the list of participants in IEM Katowice 2023 to start their journey from the Play-In stage.