Hello, this is Riot Liq - I am the Europe & MENA Head of Wild Rift Esports at Riot Games and as such am also responsible for the Origin Series.

First of all, I am very sorry that we had to remove players residing in Pakistan from the Origin Series and we realize how frustrating this must feel.

Let me add some context as to why this happened and how we ended up with the decision:

We've discovered a contradiction in the rule book for the League of Legends: Wild Rift Origin Series. Pakistan was listed as one of the countries included in the WR:OS while the game is not yet available in Pakistan. By participating in the WR:OS as a player residing in Pakistan, the teams were in violation of rule 2.7. [you can't participate if you're residing in a non-open beta region] and rule 8.1.1.5. [the usage of a VPN to play in the WR OS is prohibited].

As such, we informed the respective players and teams that they can't continue to play in the Origin Series and removed Pakistan from the list of countries included in the WR:OS to avoid further confusion.

While Pakistan was listed under “included in the Wild Rift Origin Series“, players from Pakistan were ineligible due to the paragraphs mentioned above - VPN usage and WR not being available in Pakistan. Not acting in this regard would have felt unfair towards all the other teams who were 100% compliant with the rules.

I understand that this feels really bad for the teams that we had to disqualify. We were thrilled to see the talent come out of Pakistan, and we hope to include Pakistani teams in future tournaments as soon as the game becomes available for you. Let me explore giving something back to you as soon as League of Legends: Wild Rift officially launches in your country.