Singapore Major to have no live audience "due to safety reasons"

The upcoming ONE Esports Singapore Major will be played without fans in attendance, tournament organisers ONE Esports and PGL announced on Wednesday (3 March).

While the Major will still be a live in-person event, with its participating teams all flying to Singapore to compete in the tournament, the presence of a live audience is not permitted by health and safety protocols in the country as necessitated by the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

"Due to safety reasons, no spectators will be allowed in the venue during the tournament," PGL said in a statement.

PGL CEO Silviu Stroie added that they will be taking "all the measures needed to have a safe tournament in a healthy environment."

The tournament will be broadcasted live on the official ONE Esports Twitch and YouTube channels as well as its Facebook page.

The Singapore Major, scheduled from 27 March to 4 April, is the first Major event of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and features 18 of the best teams in the circuit's six regional leagues in Europe, China, Southeast Asia, the CIS, North America, and South America.

They will be competing for the lion's share of a US$500,000 prize pool as well as a 2,700 DPC point pool to go towards securing a direct invite to The International 10 (TI10) in August.

All of the DPC's regional leagues except for China have concluded their regular seasons and determined their representatives in the Major.

Europe will be represented by Team Secret, Alliance, Team Nigma, and Team Liquid.

Southeast Asia will be represented by Fnatic, Neon Esports, and T1.

The CIS will be represented by Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere, and AS Monaco Gambit.

North America will be represented by Evil Geniuses and Quincy Crew.

South America will be represented by Beastcoast and Thunder Predator.

China will be determining its representatives by the end of its regular season on 13 March. The Chinese regional league has been on a hiatus since 28 February to make way for Lunar New Year celebrations in the country. Competition in the region is set to resume on Thursday (March 4).

The Major is split into three stages: a wildcard stage, the group stage, and the playoffs.

Six teams will start the Major from the wildcard stage, with two advancing into the group stage, where six teams from each of the DPC's regional leagues await. Six teams will then make it out of the group stage into the playoffs, where the top teams of each of the six regional leagues have been directly seeded.

The Singapore Major was first announced in early February. It was originally planned to be the last Major of the 2019-2020 DPC, but it was cancelled along with the rest of the circuit by the coronavirus pandemic last March.

The Major will also be the second high-profile tournament to be hosted in Singapore this year. The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang M2 World Championship, where Filipino team Bren Esports was crowned as world champions, was held in the republic in January.

"Having an on-site event during this period is a major accomplishment, and we're delighted to run this fantastic event which will set the stage for the best teams in the world. The Dota 2 community deserves a top-notch tournament, and we want to assure everyone that we'll do our best to provide an amazing experience for the viewers," said Stroie.

"We would also like to thank Singapore for having us, the only place where running such a large international tournament is possible!"

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page.