Fnatic have provided an update on the availability of Valorant player Emir ‘Alfajer’ Beder ahead of the team’s second match in the VCT EMEA league.
In a Twitter post, Fnatic announced that the Turkish sentinel is still unavailable due to visa issues and will sit out the team’s March 31 match against BBL Esports.
Maks ‘kamyk’ Rychlewski, Fnatic’s backup player, will continue to fill in for Alfajer after already playing for the team in their opening match against Giants Gaming.
Fnatic team director Colin ‘CoJo’ Johnson added that the delay in securing a visa for Alfajer to travel to Berlin is caused by the fact the victims of February 6’s earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria, have priority in terms of visa requests.
We got an update yesterday that they are prioritizing visas for earthquake victims so that's where the further delay comes from. We got good news on his long-term visa this week – but just waiting on the short-term solution to come through any day. Thanks for everyone's patience! https://t.co/02YR7ocTcn
— FNATIC CoJo (@CoJoPM) March 30, 2023
“We got good news on his long-term visa this week – but just waiting on the short-term solution to come through any day,” CoJo said. “Thanks for everyone’s patience!”
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kamyk, a former member of Movistar Riders and UCAM Esports Club, gave a good account of himself against Giants. He put in a 1.09 VLR rating as Fnatic ran out 2-0 winners to get their VCT EMEA campaign off to a good start.
Judging from CoJo’s comment, Fnatic are optimistic about having Alfajer back for the team’s third match in the VCT EMEA league, against Team Heretics, on April 6.
Alfajer has been on Fnatic’s books since May 2022, when he was signed from Surreal Esports. Earlier this month, he lifted his first tier-one LAN trophy as Fnatic won VCT LOCK//IN in São Paulo.