Update: RMR Qualifier players tied to team for ESL Pro League if matches occur simultaneously

Early this morning, Prodigy Agency CEO Jérôme Coupez sent out a tweet warning players that playing in the open qualifiers for the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major would rule them out of being a substitute for a different team in ESL Pro League. This will primarily impact players hoping to play as part of a mix-team for the open qualifiers, but might be asked to be a substitute for a team in Pro League.

The tweets have garnered a lot of attention and confusion among the community, even with Martin "STYKO" Styk quote tweeting Mr. Coupez's warning with "wait what".

With a lot of confusion happening, SVP Game Ecosystems at ESL FACEIT Group Ulrich "theflyingdj" Schulze responded to a tweet from HLTV Editor-in-Chief Milan "Striker" Švejda claiming that he doesn't "see why EPL has any impact on a BLAST RMR qualifier", but the tweet has since been deleted.

According to the 2023 ESL Pro League Rulebook, under the Roster Restrictions section, in subsection 2.2.2, ESL outlines the restrictions of players participating in several high profile events under multiple teams.

For a player competing in ESL Pro Tour CS:GO competitions to have a contract or agreement to compete in professional tournaments (e.g. competitions that grant points for the ESL World Ranking, have a significant prize pool or otherwise high value or prestige) and their qualifiers with 2 or more teams is strictly forbidden, may it be written or oral. ESL considers contracts or agreements between players and teams to commence two (2) days before their first tournament match (notwithstanding any actual contracts).

As ESL clarified this rule to Dust2.us and HLTV, players will be allowed to participate in the upcoming open qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major on one team and be a substitute for a team in ESL Pro League for a different team as the organizer will only view the contract valid two days before the first match in EPL. This does mean, however, that should any qualifier for the Major and ESL Pro League overlap, the player will be ineligible.

As of today, team rosters for ESL Pro League have not yet been revealed. Rosters for IEM Katowice have been revealed, and it is also known that some teams will utilize players as substitutes just in case of emergency situations. As an example, Heroic have listed Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen multiple times as a substitute in prior competitions. His participation in the open qualifiers for the BLAST.tv Paris Major would then jeopardize his status as a substitute for Heroic in ESL Pro League.

This story has been updated following an updated comment from ESL.