Riot Games issued a statement on Monday concerning the selection process to replace Movistar KOI in Valorant Champions Tour EMEA (VCT EMEA). While there has been some speculation that Gentle Mates was the likely candidate to take over the spot from Movistar KOI (and to a lesser degree, Riyadh-based Team Falcons), Riot Games Head of Valorant EMEA Daniel Ringland said on Social media Monday that the league has not made up its mind and has invited 10 organizations in the region to apply.
Riot announced on Sept. 6, that it had terminated Movistar KOI’s partnership agreement with VCT EMEA, claiming a “breach of the team’s contractual agreement with the league.” Movistar KOI is a division of OverActive Media. The Valorant publisher did not provide specific details in its announcement, but The Esports Advocate later learned that the termination was related to Riot believing that Movistar KOI did not meet its contractual obligation related to co-streaming events using popular Spanish esports commentator and Movistar KOI Co-Owner Ibai Llanos (he took a mental health break and was replaced by Sergio Ferra, according to the organization).
Ringland noted in his statement that Riot launched an invite-only selection process with 10 unnamed organizations including outgoing visitor teams and Ascension teams that meet certain criteria including having “such as competitive operations, fandom and community engagement, marketing capabilities, and overall operational readiness.”
“Our goal is to find an organisation that can help grow the sport and have a meaningful impact on the ecosystem next year,” Ringland added. “We’ve received a number of strong proposals and will be working through them over the coming weeks.”
The selected team will be announced in October, according to Ringland. It should be noted that Riot did not disclose which 10 teams were invited to apply for the VCT EMEA slot…