ESL has released a statement clarifying the eligibility of academy teams for ESL One Cologne.

With the first European open qualifier for the Cologne event set to start this Saturday, ESL has reminded that each organisation and legal entity is only entitled to "one license per tournament", which includes the qualifying stages.

This means that academy teams cannot take part in the open qualifiers if another team of the same organisation has been invited to the main event or to the closed qualifier, or if it has signed up for the same qualifier.



fnatic Academy are registered for this weekend's open qualifier

ESL has indicated that it is willing to grant an exception to organisations who provide a written confirmation that, at least four weeks before the part the competition in which the main team is involved, "the academy squad will either be sold or their contracts will be terminated for them to participate with a new organization and under a new name."

Currently, eight academy teams are registered for this weekend's open qualifier, including fnatic Academy. With fnatic having been invited to ESL One Cologne, the organisation will have to adhere to this new rule for the academy team to be able to play in the qualifier.