The winner of the Russian qualifier, Roman Alexandrovich Tatarinov [AKA Pele], will not be able to attend the international Razer / CPL $100,000 Tournament since the American embassy has refused his request for a visa. The reason given to the CPL by the American embassy in Russia, was that they were "concerned about possible defection." They claim that there is a war going on in Russia, and Pele is less than one year from mandatory drafting.

This is a setback for international pro-gamer competitions, for the CPL and for its sponsors, which have expended enormous resources and capital to attract, the very best computer gamers in the world to its live tournaments. Pele [PK] was seeded 16th in the Razer / CPL $100,000 Tournament taking place April 13 through the 16th, in Dallas, Texas.