Danish Prime Minister opens major esports event: "You are truly sportsmen"

In front of a packed Royal Arena the Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, on Saturday opened the major international Counter-Strike tournament BLAST Pro Series.

Millions of viewers online and on Flow TV around the globe followed the spectacular tournament live and more than 12.000 enthusiastic spectators in the arena created an electrifying atmosphere throughout the day and night.

The Prime minister touched upon the recurring discussion on esports and traditional sports, and Rasmussen made his views very clear:

- You have been training for years and years to be where you are. And along the way, you have probably had to explain yourselves more than once, convinsing people that you are not wasting your time. But now I hope, your explaining days are over, because you are sportsmen. You are truly sportsmen following your dreams, said the Prime Minister.

The words were received with loud cheers from the packed arena and social media lit up with #blastproseries trending on Twitter and loads of comments discussing and applauding the message.

BLAST Pro Series, key facts and numbers:

• The tournament was broadcasted live in 17 languages on twitch.tv 
• The tournament or parts thereof was broadcasted on TV Channels in more than 200 million households in over120 countries on 5 continents
• More than 12.000 spectators in the sold-out Royal Arena
• Next BLAST Pro Series tournament takes place in Lisbon, Portugal, on 14-15 December
• BLAST Pro Series has announced the first stops on the 2019 calendar be in Sao Paulo (March), Miami (April) and Madrid (May).

Links and background:
THE PRIME MINISTER'S FULL SPEACH IN ENGLISH
TWITTER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOURNAMENT
PICTURES FOR FREE EDITORIAL USE