Riot Games has announced that Turkish organisation Eternal Fire will join the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) EMEA for the remainder of the 2026 season, replacing ULF Esports.

The move follows the termination of ULF’s participation due to “publicly reported operational challenges“—specifically long-standing failures to pay salaries to players and staff since joining the league.

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The transition is designed to preserve the “Ascension” meritocracy. As published first by Sheep Esports, to ensure the players who earned their Tier-1 spot on the server aren’t punished for their organisation’s management failures, Eternal Fire has been approved to sign four players of former ULF roster’s core. The coaching staff will also transition to the new organisation.

In a separate public statement, ULF Esports attributed the suspension of its VALORANT operations to a combination of internal fiscal difficulties and the broader “financial challenges currently affecting the esports ecosystem.” The organisation, which climbed the ranks from VALORANT Premier to the Ascension championship, framed the withdrawal as a necessary step to protect its players and staff from “further hardship.”

ULF noted that while they took immense pride in their rapid competitive success, the current economic climate made it “increasingly difficult to sustain operations in a healthy and sustainable way,” ultimately leading to their mid-season exit.

While the removal of a team mid-season is a significant escalation, it follows a now-established “Playbook” Riot has used when Ascension teams fail to meet the Team Participation Agreement (TPA). This is the third time a major VCT region has seen a promoted slot change hands due to organisational instability.

In 2023, The Guard failed to secure their participation in VCT Americas, resulting in G2 Esports signing the roster and taking the slot. VCT Pacific went through a similar case in 2024 with Bleed Esports, which was removed for reported failures and “operational issues” and got replaced by Ascension runner-up BOOM Esports.

Eternal Fire will continue to operate its secondary roster in the Turkish Challengers league as an academy team while its main squad prepares for a trial by fire. The new-look roster is scheduled to make its official VCT EMEA debut on April 1st in a high-stakes opener against FNATIC.

The league is currently assisting the players with the legal transfer of their licenses to ensure they can compete without further disruption to their professional careers.

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