As we mentioned in our news here, Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen broke his silence about the disagreement between him and Heroic. Stating that he was the victim, the player said that he was slandered. But as we understand it, the situation is much more complex than that. Because of these events, HUNDEN will be investigated by Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC).
HUNDEN had left his on the way to IEM Cologne. Neither side made a statement in this regard. HUNDEN said on Wednesday that the team blamed him for sharing his team’s anti-strategy book without permission. According to their statements, this information shared was merely an analysis of other teams’ strategies. Therefore, there was no information that would harm the team. He said that this is a method used by coaches to brainstorm so that they can improve. However, the statements made by the Heroic team today showed that they evaluated the situation differently.
Heroic’s Press Release!
Heroic evaluated the events from their own perspective with their press release and gave the following statements:
Prior to IEM Cologne 2021 in early July, the Heroic team unanimously decided that Mr. Petersen would not participate in the tournament due to severe trust issues.
Following this, Mr. Petersen blocked the team members’ access to the team strategy folder. Investigations revealed that Mr. Petersen had shared confidential and sensitive information from our strategy folder with a key individual at a major competitor prior to the tournament.
This was done without the knowledge of anyone at Heroic, and would obviously not have been approved. Heroic considers this a clear breach of Mr. Petersen’s contract.
A legal process is ongoing in Denmark. Two courts have independently found sufficient grounds for evidence collection, which has been carried out.
The issue has been reported to ESL and ESIC.
Mr. Petersen’s contract has been terminated by Heroic.
Heroic
Heroic also stated:
The Heroic team is shocked by Nicolai’s actions and deeply saddened by the way he has let his teammates down, especially given the difficult decision we took to give him a second chance after the coach bug suspension. His actions go against everything we stand for at Heroic.
In order to preserve the integrity of the sport in the eyes of fans and everyone involved, it has to be made clear that such behavior is unacceptable and will have severe consequences.
We are sorry that the relationship with Nicolai ended in this way and will not make further comments at this stage due to the sensitive nature of the case.
Heroic
ESL’s take on the case!
A statement came from the organizer ESL, who was informed about the subject. Ulrich Schulze, ESL’s Vice President of Product, said:
ESIC notified us ahead of IEM Cologne that Heroic had found HUNDEN had shared a folder with information with a person at a team also competing in the tournament. Upon receiving this notification, we started investigating the allegations.
During this investigation, our conclusive findings were that while permissions to access a shared folder were sent out, the folder was not accessed by the recipient in any way. Consequently, there was no possible impact to the tournament integrity of IEM Cologne.
In the context of IEM Cologne, it was not necessary to determine whether the information itself and its sharing was a punishable offense. This will instead be part of an ongoing investigation by ESIC and potentially the subject of legal proceedings between Heroic and HUNDEN.
The integrity of our tournaments has always been the focus of our attention. We have taken deliberate and swift measures when tournament integrity was threatened in the past, and we will continue to take all necessary action to make sure it is upheld now and in the future.
Ulrich Schulze
ESIC will investigate the situation!
Additionally, ESIC has released a statement confirming that it is currently investigating allegations that former Heroic coach Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen shared sensitive information with an opponent prior to IEM Cologne without the team’s knowledge. The Commission thinks this will clear up the litigation problem between Heroic and HUNDEN.
Time will tell how the process will affect HUNDEN’s future career. While there are two different litigation processes going on in Denmark, the issue of the coach’s appointment by Astralis is quite ambiguous.
