Jove and Noggano permitted conditional Entry

After discussing passport and visa matters with Noggano and Jove I believe it is the correct course of action to allow both Russians to enter the GCS2 qualification system.

I have decided this based on the following factors:

• Jove has a very valid reason for having missed GCS2 sign ups, having only just finished serving his Army conscription.
  
• Noggano speaks excellent English and has proven himself to be one of the most trusted competitive players in the community, he can vouch for both players and oversee processes.
  
• Low risk. This is not GCS2 this is only QUALIFICATION. Great players can be given either Noggano or Jove's spots if anything goes wrong.
  
• It is the World Cup year in Russia so there's plenty of precedent for travel between the UK and Russia as long as all correct procedures are followed.
  
• Both Noggano and Jove have proven online personal identities to myself.

This is based on the following conditions:

• Noggano and Jove work together to ensure their passport applications are processed in a timely manner at their cost, they will provide proof and provide updates based on this.
  
• They both recognise that there is no prizepool during Qualification, and the actual tournament is the live tournament in September. They are legitimately competing to the best of their abilities for the right to qualify for GCS2.
  
• If they qualify and any of the processes fail, other competitors will take their place in the eight man live tournament. It's a risk they understand.

If all conditions are met GCS2 will pay for the visa application process of either or both players, and A_E will work to the best of his abilities with them both to ensure the relevant authorities permit said visas.

Jove will be given a seed of 19 as it is felt even though he is very rusty he is a former CoH2 grand master (#1 all 5 factions at the same time) and multiple ESL cup winner. It would be unfair to high seeds to have Jove as too low.

Welcome Jove and Noggano!

In Google Translate Russian. Show Spoiler

Update 30th June.

A polite note that Jove and Noggano have been issued a notification regarding passports - and that it may stop their participation of future qualification tournaments if they cannot provide proof in the coming weeks. This is between GCS2 and them, but I am just giving everyone the heads up as a matter of transparency.

Update 19th July

Russians can no longer travel to UK.

https://www.coh2.org/topic/81434/gcs2-qualifier-noggano-can-no-longer-travel

I confirming and agree with this

I confirm

ban them

That russian translate are close to vasaglish, but i dont remember that you pay me AE for lessons Kappa

That russian translate are close to vasaglish, but i dont remember that you pay me AE for lessons Kappa

Hahah thank you for your GCS2 contribution!

Welcome back Jove

I highly doubt Jove will be granted entry to UK even if he qualifies for GCS2. UK government doesn't look kindly at military personal of Russian Armed Forces who participated in systematic dissection of recently downed UK Tomahawks in Syria #MVGame

Nice to see Jove back.

Do you know the odds of him getting a passport in time? It doesn’t make sense, in my opinion, to let him play unless there’s a very high chance of him being able to travel especially since every other player had to prove the ability to travel up front. I just don’t want to see weirdness like what happened with war paint happen at the end of GCS 2 if one or more players can’t actually make the live event. Not to mention the ripple effects of placing a top player like Jove at seed 19. Would be a shame for him to take out another top player and then not be able to travel in the end.

Food for thought.

I'm a fan of Jove and Noggano, there's no doubt in that. They have been one of the most consistent players in the coh scene and I only raise this concern for the integrity of the tournament and the qualifiers. But what if these two guys end up taking away qualification points for other competitors and they end up not being able to travel to the UK? There's no way you can systematically reverse the qualification event time line as one single match series can have a huge impact on a qualification tournament. Just giving their spot to the next person in line would be a disservice to everyone who will have the honor of playing these two. They are way more deserving a spot than the degenerates who got banned and even one of the conditional entrants right now, but travelling restrictions are a whole other beast.

I will be attending GCS2 even if I do not qualify, which I anticipate being the case and I would love to meet these two, but I just wanted to play Devils advocate here. In Jove's case, I heard getting a visa to travel outside of Russia, especially to the UK, is very hard to do short notice especially if you haven't traveled before.

Just my .02

Good arguments guys but based on risk/reward logic and a moral basis I believe we should still try.

These two have done nothing wrong and have done everything they can so far. Nothing is certain but I believe they are genuine in wanting to qualify for GCS2, and sort all travel out, and I believe that it's at least very possible that we get them visas sorted.

It's about risk and reward, and I believe we don't risk too much in at least trying to give them a fair shot. I think the damage that could be done is worth the reward of having two of the game's best players having a fair chance to compete and come to England to play. It's a gamble I admit, but a lot of things aren't certain in life, and my moral compass and the logic at play both tell me to give them a shot.

If the worst happens this eight person tournament's systems are robust enough to find another worthy competitor and it won't knock the prestige too badly, especially compared to WarPaint. But if they do qualify and can travel it will be very cool. Also the tournament is also hurt in 'prestige' by straight up refusing entry to two of the best 1v1 CoH2 players ever.

Another aspect of the whole GCS process of passport verification for me, is more about ensuring the players are very serious about wanting to compete in Manchester in September. Jove and Noggano have given me no reason to believe they aren't and won't try their best.

I also understand that players who could get knocked out by either of them, and then see that they can't travel could feel upset. But also with there being seeding shake ups, four tournaments, there will be more than enough time for cream to rise to the top. Again it's only the systems at play that are allowing for this much flexibility.

The timings of things:

Russian Authorities are committed that everyone will get a passport at a maximum of three months of applying. Also no one waits in line longer than 15 minutes apparently..

British Authorities claim you will learn of a successful visa application within three weeks.

Given the Russian advice states a maximum, I think this should be OK. However I would like to state that if after the second tournament on the 1st of July, if there is no progress updates, we may have to have to assess the situation.

Great idea tbh, would love to see jove in action , i saw him playing yesterday and today, after all this time guy's still a beast .

I confirming and agree with this

The Sparrow Noggano

The timings of things:

Russian Authorities are committed that everyone will get a passport at a maximum of three months of applying. Also no one waits in line longer than 15 minutes apparently..

British Authorities claim you will learn of a successful visa application within three weeks.

Given the Russian advice states a maximum, I think this should be OK. However I would like to state that if after the second tournament on the 1st of July, if there is no progress updates, we may have to have to assess the situation.

Seems like a good compromise.

I'm with you on hoping they can get everything sorted out in time. I'm a Noggano fanboy and Jove is always a top contender. I just don't want drama at the end of GCS marring what could be the best Coh2 tourney of all time.

Seems like a good compromise.

I'm with you on hoping they can get everything sorted out in time. I'm a Noggano fanboy and Jove is always a top contender. I just don't want drama at the end of GCS marring what could be the best Coh2 tourney of all time.

There won't be drama on this particular issue as we have taken all necessary steps to mitigate it at an early stage. There will be other, and unexpected drama, there always is

I think a big part in the drama around WPC was that it was not clear how much money would eventually be collected and thus if the live finals were actually happening. As such, they seemed like a bonus for the finalists and nothing that could fire back at the contenders.

Furthermore, communication from all sides appeared to be suboptimal and the problem was only addressed at the latest possible stage.

So, even in the worst case I think the drama couldn't be close to what it was back then...

Update: A polite note that Jove and Noggano have been issued a notification regarding passports - and that it may stop their participation in future qualification tournaments if they cannot provide proof in the coming weeks. This is between GCS2 and them, but I am just giving everyone the heads up as a matter of transparency.