Filipino Dota 2 Players Are Stuck In Romania After TI10

Update: Fnatic team director Eric Khor said two Filipino players, Karl and Kuku, managed to board their flight to the Philippines without any hitches. However, the remaining players were stopped at the airport despite flying the same route one day later.

Update: @keyemjey @kukudota made YOLO attempts and made it back without getting stopped. @DjardelJicko @ravendoto @killthemage @abedyusop attempted the same and got stopped from boarding the plane (same route, 1 day after). Have reached out to IATF, @DFAPHL for assistance

— Eric Khor (ReiNNNN) (@ReiNNNN) October 20, 2021

Original story follows.

Several Filipino Dota 2 players from multiple teams have been left stranded in Bucharest, Romania after they were denied permission to return to the Philippines following the conclusion of The International 10 tournament this past weekend.

The matter was confirmed by Fnatic's team director Eric Khor, who issued a statement on Twitter requesting assistance from the relevant authorities to help bring the Filipino players back to their home country.

filipino #TI10 players @DjardelJicko @ravendoto @abedyusop @kukudota @karldota and team staff @killthemage stuck in romania after TI. they are unable to return to the PH. can anyone help? @DFAPHL @ABSCBN @bamaquino — Eric Khor (ReiNNNN) (@ReiNNNN) October 19, 2021

On October 17, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), a task force set up by the Filipino government to curb the spread of infectious diseases, released an updated list of travel restrictions for the country and named Romania as the only Red-listed country.

Any persons from a country under the Red list will not be permitted entry into the Philippines. The directive went into effect on October 16, and most of the Filipino players, who had booked flights back to the Philippines on October 18 and 19, are unable to proceed with their travel plans.

Romania was placed under the Red list after the country recorded a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. Several players were infected with the virus, prompting Valve and PGL to cancel in-person attendance for TI10 and refunding attendees who had purchased tickets before the event.

The Filipino players affected by the travel restrictions are:

1. Evil Geniuses: Abed Yusop
2. Fnatic: Djardel “DJ” Mampusti and Marc “Raven” Polo Luis Fausto
3. T1: Carlo “Kuku” Palad and Karl “Karl” Baldovino

As at the time of writing, there have been no updates from Khor nor the Filipino authorities on the status of the players' travel restrictions and whether they can fly back to the Philippines anytime soon.