Mohamed “Jebus” Tohki has hit a wall of visa issues as he attempts to move to the U.S. to play with his new team, League Challenger side Misfits.
Tohki has been denied a visitor’s visa, meaning the only way he’ll get in the U.S. is with an athlete’s visa—but he needs to play for a League Championship Series side to be eligible. As a result, Tohki plans to join Team Dragon Knights as a substitute while he continues to play for Misfits.
Due to the lenghty athlete’s visa application process, Misfits will use current Team 8 substitute AD carry Ainslie “maplestreet” Wyllie in his place for the upcoming North American Challenger Series qualifiers.
“We are glad maplestreet found a team he would like to join,” Team 8 owner, Eric “LovePentaKills8” Ma told the Daily Dot. “We wish to see him prove himself and meet us back in the LCS.”
Misfits owner Chris Badawi said his organization was “thrilled” to have Maple join the team for the “early stages of the qualifying series.”
Badawi added: “He has an amazing attitude and spirit. Misfits would like to sincerely thank Team 8 for their assistance in making this possible.”
On May 7, the Daily Dot reported that Tohki would be moving to the United States to join the new North American Challenger side. That news was followed by controversy over his contractual status with his former team, Gamers2. But Gamers2 eventually backed off, saying that the team did “not intend to stand in the way of Jebus future professional career and will support him for any future plans.”
Tohki spent the past week in Copenhagen, Denmark working to obtain a visitor’s visa. But he apparently noted on the application that he intended to work in the U.S., making him ineligible and forcing him to apply for the athlete’s visa.
Tohki’s new teammate, Alexey “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin, has been in a similar situation. The Russian mid laner joined Team 8 as a substitute on Jan. 12 in order to apply for his visa. Only one day later, Ichetovkin joined Team BrawL, gearing up for the North American Challenger Series qualifier. After the team failed to produce results, he left and teamed up with Alberto “Crumbz” Rengifo and create the current Misfits.
Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes has played for Misfits throughout the AlphaDraft Challenger League, but that is likely only a temporary solution. Hayes appears set to join Counter Logic Gaming as the substitute AD carry on that team’s new seven-man roster. Misfits placed first in the AlphaDraft Challenger League on May 15 with Hayes playing in Tohki’s spot.
With Wyllie’s recent departure from Team 8, it’s no surprise he’s looking for a new team to join. The North American Challenger Series qualifiers, however, begin on May 26. With this new addition, the Misfits will have just under two weeks to mesh with their new teammate.
