News about COVID-19 testing and results appear to be headlining the Play-in stage at Worlds 2022 in Mexico City, Mexico. Yesterday, the first day of the opening phase, several members tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and were forced to play the games in isolation. However, it was revealed today by many players that they received false positives in their rapid COVID-19 tests. After several players and team personnel tested negative on PCR tests, which are more accurate, players will now enter Summoner’s Rift from onstage setups. Riot Games also confirmed the development on September 30.
MAD Lions and Fnatic talk about what happened
The European teams of MAD Lions and Fnatic started Worlds 2022 well on September 29 despite several players playing from the isolation cabins. On September 30, MAD Lions jungler Javier “Elyoya“Prades wrote“Looks like we were negative after all, so we’ll be performing today on stage.The player also explained that it was a mistake that caused them valuable training time. Elyoya added: “Looks like it was a mistake, and thanks to that we were confined all day without a PC or anything.“Similarly, team coach James MacCormack also confirmed that he had tested PCR negative.
Javier, Fnatic Team Manager”Dardo“Zafra took to Twitter to reveal that the COVID-19 alerts from the first day of the 2022 Worlds were cases of false positives. He , “Last minute update: We have all tested negative. Apparently there were some false positives yesterday and we can compete on stage today.”
Notably, the starting support of the Zdravets team”Hylissang“Iliev Galabov has also landed in Mexico and is united with the team as Fnatic prepares to play Day 2 matches with full energy.
Riot Games makes a statement
Riot Games has confirmed that all players participating in Worlds 2022 have tested negative for COVID-19 in additional rounds of testing. The company wrote: “Last night we carried out an additional round of COVID testing for all teams and all players were cleared to compete on stage. We will continue to regularly test and monitor all participants to ensure the health and safety of players and staff at Worlds 2022.”
Notably, cases of day one false positives delayed all matches and the broadcast was extended to 11 a.m. as Riot Games worked to move players to remote isolation facilities while maintaining the competitive integrity of the League of Legends title event.
