Chengdu Hunters player refused travel to U.S. for Overwatch League
Chinese Overwatch League team Chengdu Hunters have already faced their first big test – getting all their players into the United States to play Season 2, as one player’s visa has been rejected.
The new franchise set out on January 21 to make the trip to Los Angeles, with all but one of the players successfully travelling overseas for the start of Season Two.
On their Weibo page, Chengdu Hunters posted on January 22 “The members of ChengduHunters who left last night have arrived in Los Angeles safely!”
However, in a comment under the post, the organization revealed that not all members of the team had made the trip on January 21, as Zhang ‘YangXiaoLong’ Zhihao had his visa rejected.
The Hunters state (translated from Mandarin): “There is news to tell you that because there is a history of refusal, Yang Xiaolong did not go to the United States with the first batch of members because of a visa refusal. We have contacted a lawyer to assist with the visa again, please let us wait for the results together.”
Official: YangXiaoLong of Chengdu Hunters had his visa application rejected. The team is working with an immigration lawyer to resolve this issue. pic.twitter.com/QlmLOHVRFX
— OW Beacon (@OWBeacon) January 22, 2019
It’s not the first time that visa issues have caused serious logistical problems in the Overwatch League, as fellow Chinese team Shanghai Dragons had to do without star player Geguri for two weeks in Season One due to a similar situation.
The regular season for Season Two begins on February 14, meaning Chengdu Hunters should hopefully have enough time to have the issues resolved before their first league match.