As we previously reported on, HUNDEN started to implicate his former team mates. Former Heroic coach made some new allegations about the coaching bug, for which he was suspended for 8 months. And now, the players at the center of the allegations broke their silence.
The Heroic team did a press conference ahead of the ESL Pro League Season 14 playoffs on Monday. In fact, the team has appeared in front of the press for the first time since HUNDEN’s allegations. According to the former coach’s claims, the Heroic team was aware that they were exploiting the system.
During the conference there were constant references to the allegations. Finally, René “TeSeS” Madsen answered a question about how the situation was affecting the team. Because TeSeS was one of two players that the former coach had directly implicated.
“Well, it’s very tough, to be honest. There’s a lot of hate going on, but we have [faced] so much noise before when we have played and we have always performed under it. It’s not like I’m completely used to it, but I’m always 100% focused when I play.”
In fact, the interview started with Casper “cadiaN” Møller talking on the subject. They did not ignore the allegations about HUNDEN and the team. However, after accepting the situation, they stated that there would be no answers to questions about this subject.
“I obviously know that there is great interest in asking a lot of questions, and obviously the hot topic for everyone is the HUNDEN situation. Please, just refrain from asking questions because you won’t get an answer.”
Ultimately, apart from TeSeS’s statements, the players did not respond to the allegations. CadiaN only touched on how they managed the situation for themselves and their communication about the parties involved.
“We are in talks with the right people about how we want to communicate this at a later point, and this is not with the media, this is with ESIC and other people.”
ESIC Started Another Investigation!
As the latest development, ESIC announced that it has opened an investigation. Previously, HUNDEN had shared some documents with the public. These documents were evaluated by independent partners and some thought that HUNDEN might be right. In addition, HUNDEN stated that he had shared these documents with ESIC.
ESIC made a public statement about the situation.
“On 4 September 2021, Mr. Petersen sent ESIC information which he alleges provides evidence that the players who were playing for Heroic at the time of Mr. Petersen’s exploitation of the spectator bug were complicit in his exploits. Despite the fact that this allegation is contrary to previous public statements Mr. Petersen has made, ESIC has opened a formal investigation into the matter.”
Regardless, Heroic looks set to compete in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 14. As of now, the esports watchdog has not issued any recommendations regarding the Danish team, such as removing the team from ESIC-sanctioned tournaments. In the case of Akuma, which was similar, the commission had excluded the team from the tournament.
Also, the following players were also a part of Heroic during the coaching bug incident:
- Casper “cadiaN” Møller
- Martin “stavn” Lund
- René “TeSeS” Madsen
- Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen
- Johannes “b0RUP” Borup
- Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen (coach)
We will continue to report on this issue, as further details come up.
