Valve has decided to cancel ticket sales for The International 2021. The tickets were for physical entry to the event to be held in the next 4 days scheduled on 7 October. The cancellation is due to the rise in the number of COVID cases in Romania and Valve would like to take necessary precautions for the event which is held in Bucharest.
Fans who have purchased the tickets for The International 2021 will be refunded. While the Dota teams will be competing at the Worlds stage, fans should still be able to catch all the action of the tournament via Dota or Twitch, which is one of the most popular streaming platform.
Europe is one of the biggest hit infections of the virus with at least 59,257,000 casualties and a high reported count of 1,435,000 deaths in the continent. Romania currently has an increased rate of 9,910 daily cases as of 3 Oct 2021 and 166 deaths reported daily. The Romanian Government has put in place restrictions to control the accelerating rate which has been spreading rapidly. It is not known if any of the players have been tested positive but Valve will continue to monitor the situation as the big day of the tournament approaches.