Editor’s Note 29/11/21: This article has been updated to include information regarding Nivera’s current condition and clarify the timing of when he contracted COVID-19.
The newest member of Team Liquid’s VALORANT roster, Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom, has tested positive for COVID-19, multiple sources told Upcomer and VALORANT Zone on Monday.
He contracted the virus a few weeks prior to the event but he has tested positive once more prior to the start of Champions. He has since recovered from the virus.
Nivera will likely still be available to play at Champions despite testing positive for the virus, sources said. Multiple players and team staff members present at the event were not aware of the test result when approached by Upcomer. The test result likely occurred after the quarantine period instituted for the tournament, sources told Upcomer.
VALORANT developer Riot Games, which is putting on VALORANT Champions, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Team Liquid are set to face off against KRÜ Esports in the opening match of Group B on Thursday in what is supposed to be an offline tournament. If Team Liquid manage to secure the victory they will likely come up against Sentinels in the second round, if Sentinels beat FURIA.
With the addition of Nivera late in the year, Team Liquid had not lost an official VALORANT match in the time leading into Champions. The squad, which also features Nivera’s brother, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom, added Nivera in September to replace James “Kryptix” Affleck.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spiked once more in Germany, where Champions is being held. Cases have skyrocketed in the European country following the spike in the continent earlier this month. Germany has had 1,196,181 reported cases of the coronavirus over the course of the past 28 days, according to the COVID-19 dashboard from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
This story will be updated.
