Akbar 'Sonneiko' Butaev was rejected a US visa for the third time and his chances of being able to participate at The International 5 is very quickly diminishing.
Bad news has arrived for the fans of Na'Vi, the Na'Vi support player Akbar 'Sonneiko' Butaev has been denied a US visa for the third time - even after Valve allegedly pulled all the strings they had to obtain a US visa for him. As of 13/7/15 there are eight days left before the participating teams of The International 5 are due in; if Sonneiko does not get his visa in these eight days, Na'Vi will not be able to field their official roster for part of, if not, the whole of TI5.
Bad news. Sonneiko got rejected the third time. Valve, we really need a miracle now!
— Moritz Zimmermann (@MooseWD) July 13, 2015
It seems that Valve's letter of recommendation and their alleged pulling of strings to help in this the situation has not done much as US immigration declined the application for "no reason" and having "just declined after two minutes of looking at his [Sonneiko] papers", according to Moritz Zimmermann, Na'Vi's head of video production and live broadcasting.
With it being uncertain that Sonneiko's will get a US visa, Na'Vi might end up in the same situation as Mousesports during TI2, where Kuro 'KuroKy' Salehi Takhasomi needed to stand-in for Craciunescu 'Comewithme' Alexandru due to visa issues. As of yet, no announcement has been made in regards to possible stand-ins for Na'Vi.
Gosugamers has reached out to Valve to find out about the actions they have taken on this issue and have yet to receive a reply.
Source: Twitter
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