Visa complications have caused Na`Vi and Space Soldiers to withdraw from IEM Sydney. G2 and Legacy replaced the two teams at the $250,000 tournament.

Despite applying for visas weeks ago, not all of Na`Vi's and Space Soldiers' players have been able to secure the documents necessary to travel to Australia, which forced the two teams to withdraw from IEM Sydney.

ESL have replaced the two teams with G2, who finished 3rd-4th in the European closed qualifier, and local side Legacy, who placed fourth in the Oceania closed qualifier.

G2 and Legacy were invited as last-minute replacements for Na`Vi and Space Soldiers

The group brackets at the $250,000 tournament have not been altered, as the French side directly replaced Na`Vi in Group B, while Legacy took Space Soldiers' place in Group A.

"We have just confirmed that both Natus Vincere and Space Soldiers will drop from IEM Sydney 2018 due to VISA complications. We know that both teams were looking forward to travelling to Australia to compete and meet their international fan base" IEM Product Manager, Shaun Clark, said in a statement. "In both cases, not all of their teams roster were granted visas and with the long travel time to Australia and the event set to begin on Tuesday, we had to make the call in order to protect the tournament and still find suitable replacements. With this decision we are incredibly thankful to G2 Esports & Legacy Esports to join as replacements on such short notice."

“We have just confirmed that both Natus Vincere and Space Soldiers will drop from IEM Sydney 2018 due to VISA complications. We know that both teams were looking forward to travelling to Australia to compete and meet their international fan base“ said Shaun Clark, Product Manager Intel® Extreme Masters. “In both cases, not all of their teams roster were granted visas and with the long travel time to Australia and the event set to begin on Tuesday, we had to make the call in order to protect the tournament and still find suitable replacements. With this decision we are incredibly thankful to G2 Esports & Legacy Esports to join as replacements on such short notice.“

The groups now are the following:

IEM Sydney will run on May 1-6, with the first three days reserved for the group stage. G2 will face MVP PK in the first round, while Legacy will take on Renegades.