Visa rules keep Astralis captain Karrigan home from Eleague

Danish Counter-Strike team Astralis are playing in the Eleague this week, the $1.3 million tournament held by US TV network TBS. But the team hit an unforeseen hurdle as they were travelling to the event. Team captain Finn "Karrigan" Andersen was denied boarding due to problems with his travel authorization.

Karrigan had planned on travelling to the US using the Visa Waiver Program (also known as ESTA), like most EU players do for US tournaments. However, the rules for travelling with ESTA changed back in april, meaning anyone who has travelled to Iran in the past 5 years are no longer eligible for ESTA. They'll need a proper visa instead.

And Karrigan did indeed visit Iran in 2012 as part of a promotional trip with his team then, Fnatic.

The other Astralis players have already arrived in the US. The official Twitter for the team says that they're heading to the US embassy today to try and get Karrigan a visa.

Astralis is supposed to play their first game in the Eleague tomorrow at 18:00 CEST. What will happen if Karrigan is unable to make it in time remains unclear.