ESL One Cologne barred from having live audience

Getting sick, for most people, sucks. But if you were anything like the spotty, nerdy kids at TLDR, staying in and playing video games instead of going to school sounded like a fantastic time.

Sadly, the whole world has been a bit sick recently, and we're all getting a little bit tired of staying in and playing games - we'd much rather go to Germany and... well, go inside and play games.

The poor guy or gal who first thought eating undercooked bat was a great idea has now bestowed onto us a ban on events until at least the end of summer, at least in the great country of Bratwurst, Lederhosen and gob b.

We could deal with losing the Pro League, and FLASHPOINT, and DreamHack events. But losing ESL One Cologne? We're not the only people to lose access to our place of worship, of course, but we never thought our Cathedral would be shut down.

Now, we're not sure if the games will be played there with no fans, or if the whole thing will be online - we, like many people, don't have a crystal ball. But it seems unlikely that we'll be able to go there, even if by some miracle the players are.

Ulrich Schulze of ESL gave an interview speaking about the issues they had to overcome in a short span of time when the Pro League was moved online, and now he'll have to find a way to make ESL One Stay-at-ho-gne a remarkable event in its own way. Though not being able to invite NA teams might be a blessing, really.

ESL haven't confirmed that the event has been cancelled, or fans not allowed to enter, saying they will 'see what this means' for ESL One Cologne. We all know, though, when your mate says he'll 'think about it', it means no, he's not going to that party.

The TLDR armchair analysis

Mutti Merkel doesn't muck around. She knows what she's talking about and cancelling all big events until September seems to be the standard European modus operandi. We are going to miss the Cathedral, but we are looking forward to see if ESL can pull off a memorable online event that celebrates the spirit of Cologne. See you in LANXESS in 2021! knock on wood