14 DAY TRIAL // A League of Legends player known as Dexter to the community has been detained when he was entering the United States and was then denied a visa and sent back to Germany, despite the fact that he had been officially invited to a tournament in California.
Marcel Feldkamp, a gamer associated with Counter Logic Gaming, says that he had two delays on his flights and lost his luggage and was then searched and denied entry when trying to get into the country.
His Twitter account states, “Visa got cancelled. On my way home again for nothing. I also had the pleasure to spend a night in a cell.”
Counter Logic Gaming says that because of the new athlete visas that cover eSports players, Marcel Feldkamp should have been able to get into the United States using a waiver while his approval process for official documents was still ongoing.
A statements posted by OnGamer reads, “Dexter is not an employee or contracted to CLG in any way. He has not been paid by the company or any of its employees, partners, or affiliates. We assume he was turned away due to the assumption he was attempting to enter the US and obtain work illegally, so this ruling greatly disappoints us if it is in fact true.”
It seems that, at the moment, Marcel Feldkamp is in Germany and will not be able to take part in the League of Legends competition in California.
The gaming industry and especially companies involved in the growing eSports field have long lobbied the United States government to create special visas for competitors, designed to resemble those usually used by athletes.
Both League of Legends and other MOBA titles, like DOTA 2, attract huge audiences both inside and outside the US and the biggest events have audiences that number in the millions.