BLAST issues response to BESTIA Austin Major visa backlash

Tournament organiser BLAST has issued a response to Esports Insider after receiving backlash following its announcement to replace BESTIA with Legacy at the upcoming Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) Major in Austin, Texas.

In the statement, BLAST claims that the Argentine organisation missed its May 21st deadline to confirm player visas. The company also shared that the decision has ‘been validated by Valve’.

On May 21st, 2025, BLAST announced that BESTIA would be replaced with Brazilian esports organisation Legacy due to players Martín ‘tomaszin‘ Corna and Luciano ‘luchov‘ Herrera having issues acquiring a US visa.

Following the announcement, BESTIA published a social media post revealing its players will have visas in time to attend the first stage of the Major, beginning on June 3rd, 2025. In a subsequent post, the organisation claimed BLAST was ignoring its request, stating that the players had the correct documentation to enter the United States.

Despite generating support from esports organisations and the likes of Ilya ‘M0NESY’ Osipov, BLAST has seemingly reaffirmed its decision.

However, earlier today, BESTIA’s CEO Alejandro ‘PapoMC’ Lococo, has teased on social media that the organisation has ‘very relevant information’ expected to be shared on May 22nd.

Instead, Legacy will take its place and begin its opening stage with a match against Chinese organisation Lynn Vision.

In a statement provided to Esports Insider, BLAST claims it followed up with the organisation repeatedly, providing ‘follow-ups, support, and updated invitation letters’ regarding its visa application process.

“We set a clear deadline of Wednesday, May 21st, at 5pm CEST for their players to have confirmed visas,” stated a BLAST representative. “As of the deadline, BESTIA was still missing visas for two players. Due to this, we reassigned the South American slot to Legacy, the next eligible team.”

The tournament organiser told Esports Insider that BESTIA spoke to BLAST at 1:20 pm CEST on May 21st, stating that it expects Tomazin and Luchov’s visas to be obtained on the 26th or 27th with ’emergency interviews’ on May 22nd and 23rd.

However, BLAST argued that ‘these appear to be visa appointments, not confirmed visas and fall short of the requirements we communicated’.

The full statement provided to Esports Insider by BLAST can be found below:

Since February, BLAST has proactively communicated with teams about the US visa process required for the Austin Major. Teams were communicated to on 14th of February following the VRS ranking update, including BESTIA.

This included guidance for teams who qualified or expected to qualify, ensuring ample time to prepare. BLAST chased for visa status updates on the 23rd and 24th of April and then received a full breakdown showing BESTIA are in the process of obtaining visas for 4 players on 1st of May.

BESTIA were repeatedly provided with follow-ups, support and updated invitation letters for their visa processes upon request. BESTIA became unresponsive after their players failed to obtain their initial visas.

We set a clear deadline of Wednesday, 21st May at 5pm CEST for their players to have confirmed visas. As of the deadline, BESTIA was still missing visas for two players. Due to this, we reassigned the South American slot to Legacy, the next eligible team.

Legacy has secured the necessary visas and is confirmed to attend the Austin Major.

BESTIA communicated at 13:20 CEST 21/05, that they expected Tomazin and Luchov to be approved stating they thought it would be likely that they’d expect to obtain visas on Monday 26th /Tuesday 27th with emergency interviews on Thursday,  22nd May and Friday, 23rd May.

However, these appear to be visa appointments, not confirmed visas and fall short of the requirements we communicated. This decision has been validated by Valve.

BESTIA’s current legal representative has since confirmed that the team began the visa process incorrectly and without proper legal support prior to their involvement.

All other teams have received their visas for the event, FlyQuest are missing 1 visa for a player who had interviews yesterday. FlyQuest have a substitute with documentation in place.