Sam ‘KingkOng’ Yu recently won the Oceania seed for WCS Shanghai, a WCS circuit event, where he beat Mongolian ‘Sioras’ in the finals.
Recently Exile5 have been advised by Blizzard that their player, Sam 'KingkOng' Yu, apparently does not qualify for the WCS Shanghai event.
KingkOng has been living in Australia since late 2012 with a student visa, he played in tournaments since January 2013 where he had already been on an Australian team and playing in events such as the masters cup since before he came to Australia. He has been living in Australia and playing in Australian events for close to 4 years now.
Exile 5 took several precautions to determine that KingkOng would be eligible to compete pursuant to the rules set out here.
Followings were Team Exile 5’s understanding that KingkOng qualified on the basis of the exceptions provided namely:
a) that he possessed a student Visa;
b) that he has been living in Australia for over three years;
c) that he would qualify for permanent residency if he was to apply for it.
Blizzard has, nonetheless, advised after the event that KingkOng was ineligible to compete on the basis that this event was a citizenship locked event and that the exceptions provided in the rules do not apply as such. Even though it is not easy for Exile 5 to accept Blizzard’s decision, they can only act according to Blizzard's instructions.
Exile 5 have been told that Blizzard will look at the language used in the WCS residency requirements.
Although it is but the smallest glimmer of a silver lining, KingkOng is allowed to play in the open bracket. However, he will still need to fly there, compete and win once more.
If Blizzard do not change their stance, Sioras would obtain the Oceania seed as the new WCS representative from the qualifiers.
Source: Team Exile 5
