Coaches barred from PGL Bucharest Open Qualifiers

PGL is banning coaches from assisting their team in the Open Qualifiers for their Bucharest event in April. This goes against the trend that ESL and BLAST have set, allowing coaches to communicate with their players in the team's voice comms. However, this does match Valve's format for online qualifiers, as Major qualifiers do not allow coaches to communicate or be physically present with their teams.

Article 7 of the PGL rules states that "no member of the team, including the coach, may be physically or virtually present or communicate with the players at any time during the match."

The decision is an odd one from PGL as Valve's strict rules about coaches have traditionally existed in a bubble, with most tournament organizers allowing coaches to communicate with their teams bar a few exceptions.

The open qualifiers in North America are taking place from February 14th to February 23rd. The first two open qualifiers will send five teams each into the closed qualifier, while the final two will send four teams into the CQ. The North American Closed Qualifier will kick off on February 28th and run until March 8th.