The two teams from the Vietnam Championship Series will not attend the 2020 League of Legends World Championships, which is slated to begin on 25 September in Shanghai, China.

According to ESPN, the news broke amidst concerns of players and staff being unable to re-enter Vietnam if they leave for China due to COVID-19 precautions. Other countries, like Malaysia and more, also have similar border restrictions in place.

The Vietnamese Championship Series summer playoffs are ongoing with the losers’ bracket finals between EVOS Esports and GAM Esports set for Thursday, which will determine the other team that is supposed to qualify for the League Of Legends Worlds, alongside the already-qualified Team Flash.

At the time of writing, Riot Games is not expected to replace the Vietnamese teams. They will instead be hosting a 22-team tournament rather than the original 24.

It remains to be seen how the Vietnamese teams’ withdrawal from the League Of Legends Worlds Championships will impact their future seeding at other events.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Riot Games has already cancelled the Mid-Season Invitational earlier this year, but the Worlds will still be held in a safe bubble environment (no live on-site spectators, etc.).

Many have gone online since, including South Korea’s LoL Championship Korea, the League of Legends European Championship and the League Championship Series in Europe and North America, respectively.