Wolves Esports denied U.S. visas, miss Salt Lake R6 Major

Wolves Esports will miss the BLAST R6 Salt Lake City Major after U.S. authorities rejected visas for the team’s five-player Chinese roster, the organization announced. The $600,000 Rainbow Six Siege event is scheduled to begin May 8 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

The squad qualified for the Major by finishing third in the newly integrated CN League and was set to compete in the Phase 1 Play-In stage. Wolves Esports is the esports division of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The organization said the denial followed weeks of uncertainty over whether the roster could travel.

Wolves wrote on social media: “It’s official – our R6 team Visas have been denied and as such we will be unable to attend the Salt Lake City Major. It is very disappointing that we will be unable to take our spot on the international stage after all the hard work our team put into qualifying.” The team added it was unable to overcome U.S. immigration protocols despite professional backing.

Ubisoft, the game’s publisher and event organizer, has not confirmed whether a replacement team will be named to fill Wolves’ spot. Tournament organizers and teams have used emergency substitutions or remote play when rosters could not travel in past events.

Visa problems have affected several international esports tournaments. At the BLAST R6 Major Atlanta in 2023, Alpha Atheris and Geekay Esports required last-minute substitutes. The Six Charlotte Major in 2022 left more than five organizations impacted, with some teams competing remotely from Mexico. In 2025, Argentinian organization BESTIA missed the BLAST.tv Austin Counter-Strike 2 Major due to visa issues, and Brazilian teams FURIA, LOUD and MIBR faced documentation problems during VCT Americas that year.

Non-esports competitions have also been disrupted by U.S. visa denials. In 2025, table tennis world champion Hugo Calderano was unable to enter the United States for a Las Vegas event after his visa application was refused.

Wolves’ withdrawal removes one qualified team from the Salt Lake City field and leaves event organizers to decide how to fill the vacancy before the tournament begins on May 8.