Why are multiple teams dropping out of Pokémon World Championship? | Esports News
The 2025 Pokémon World Championships kicks off on August 15, 2025. Held in Anaheim, California, United States, as per reports, it’s facing an unexpected hurdle. Several qualified teams have made their withdrawals at the last minute. While this event does promise fierce esports competition, top-qualified teams are now out, just before the event kicks off. The reasons for this are still emerging, but the core issue, which is preventing their participation, remains the same. Here’s all we know about the reported reasons that are raising concerns about the global inclusivity of the tournament.
Why are teams dropping out of Pokémon World Championships 2025?
The primary reasons that have been cited for the sudden dropout of the teams are the entry visa denial in the United States. The immigration barrier is impacting squads across varied regions. Quite notably, all Chinese teams that qualified for the Pokémon Unite division got barred from attending. As per reports, they all were refused visas or faced documentation delays.Teams from the other nations, like the Infamous Gaming from Peru and Champion Road (Liten Dream Factory) from South Korea, right alongside Team TC, Nova Esports and Last Dance, are facing a similar fate. All these teams (mostly part of the Pokémon Unite game), including the ones that are still participating, were to compete for becoming world champion of Pokémon VGC, Pokémon Unite, Pokémon TCG and Pokémon Go.While specific reasons for each of the teams’ dropping out have not been detailed officially by organizers or the teams, the pattern points to complications in the United States immigration process. It’s preventing qualified competitors from reaching the tournament venue. The external administrative blockade has stopped those who earned the spot from competing with others on a global stage.
Recurring issues threaten the integrity of global Esports
While the United States visa concerns continue to come to light this year, it is not an isolated incident. Last year, in the World Championships in Hawaii, four teams faced similar visa complications, due to which they withdrew. The impact was severe. With just 32 teams participating, the championship lost multiple squads at the last minute. It led them to restructure tournament brackets, alter matchups and therefore quite potentially skew competitive outcomes, even before the game began.This team withdrawals and visa trouble patterns doesn’t just exist in Pokémon. There are many high-profile cases like Moist Esports in 2024, which sued the U.S. immigration after the players were denied entry on trivial grounds. Without any resolution in sight, the critics now seem to argue that to host major tournaments in the restrictive countries undermines the presence of fair competition in Esports.Esports teams put in a lot of effort to qualify, only to see their chance vanish because of factors that are out of their control. It raises questions about overly restrictive policies that don’t allow the World Championship to be synonymous with its name. The Pokémon Company, though, has acknowledged the concerns, but there are no solutions offered yet. As per them, it’s all logistical challenges that prevent the participation of teams.In truth, without any systemic changes, the ongoing patterns threaten to exclude varied regions, including China, which is one of the major markets for Pokémon Unite, from the future events. This doesn’t preserve fairness and needs to be addressed soon, especially with the fact that in 2026, the United States is also about to host the FIFA World Cup, and later, in 2028, the Summer Olympic Games.
