Heroic Takes Legal Action Against Former CS:GO Coach Hunden, ESIC Confirms Investigation
Heroic has terminated its contract with HUNDEN.
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A day after Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen to denied all rumours about him having shared Heroic's strat book, the Danish organization came out with a statement of their own, yesterday on 29th July. According to Heroic's statement, they are taking legal action against HUNDEN while also having terminated his contract. ESL's Senior Vice President of Product, Ulrich Schulze also came forward to comment on the situation with ESL having conducted its own investigation, to determine whether IEM Cologne's tournament integrity was affected or not. Lastly, the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) also confirmed their ongoing investigation which started on on 8th July 2021.
Heroic releases statement regarding Hunden
A day after HUNDEN released a public statement from his side, dismissing all rumours about him having leaked information sensitive to Heroic, the Danish organization came forward with their own response.
Heroic alleged that before IEM Cologne 2021 the organization unanimously decided to not involve HUNDEN "due to severe trust issues".
The org added that HUNDEN had blocked team members from accessing the team's strategy folder.
Following an internal investigation, Heroic claimed that HUNDEN had shared sensitive and confidential information with an individual before IEM Cologne 2021.
Considering this to be a clear breach of contract, Heroic has taken legal actions against HUNDEN while also terminating his contract.
A legal process is ongoing in Denmark. Two courts have independently found sufficient grounds for evidence collection, which has been carried out.Heroic Statement
Heroic expressed shock by HUNDEN's alleged behavior, while talking about how they had given him a second chance following the coach bug suspension.
ESL comments on allegations against Hunden
Ulrich Schulze - ESL's Senior Vice President of Product also made a statement clarifying that after the TO conducted its own investigation into the matter, it has come to a conclusion that IEM Cologne's tournament integrity was not impacted by this incident.
After ESL was notified about Hunden's alleged behaviour by ESIC, the tournament organizer investigated and came to a conclusion that "while permissions to access a shared folder were sent out, the folder was not accessed by the recipient in any way".
ESIC confirms ongoing investigation into claims against Hunden
ESIC stepped forth to confirm its ongoing investigation in the matter, revealing that they had been notified about Hunden allegedly leaking Heroic's sensitive information on 6th July, "which could be classified as a breach of ESIC's Integrity Program".
ESL was also notified about the situation by ESIC as it was related to upcoming matches at IEM Cologne 2021. As stated above, the tournament integrity was not breached and that ESIC has continued its investigation, currently awaiting further evidence.
On 28th July, Hunden had publicly spoken about the situation where he had claimed that rumours about him having shared Heroic's strat book were false. He confessed to having shared some "anti-strat material of opponents," with colleagues from other teams, claiming it to be essential for him as a coach "in respect to staying in the loop and developing".
Further, Hunden stated that he is willing to cooperate with ESIC and any other relevant institutions, and is also ready to "provide documentation about anything found necessary to the case".
For now, the matter is still under investigation. There were also rumours about Astralis being interested in signing HUNDEN as their coach, and it's yet to be seen if this rumoured with be affected following these allegations.
