HYDRA Releases Official Statement Regarding Lefitan and the Cheating Controversy

After a recent video released by popular Russian YouTuber and journalist Morf, many teams and players in Eastern Europe (EEU), North America (NA), and China were accused of cheating and match-fixing. Team HYDRA was one of the teams at the center of the controversy, along with one of its players, Anatoliy “Lefitan” Krupnov, who was accused of cheating and match-fixing in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) and other tournaments. After HYDRA parted ways with Lefitan, the organization posted its official statement on the controversy addressing Morf’s investigation, the allegations made against them, and the organization parting ways with Lefitan.

Team HYDRA did not want to ruin Lefitan’s career over rumors

Following Morf’s investigation video, there was a lot of controversy among multiple teams and players within the Dota 2 community. Due to this, Team HYDRA and its players, specifically, Lefitan, came under fire by the community, following which the team officially cut ties with Lefitan. In a recent official statement made by the team, various aspects of the allegations are addressed. The organization says that it took its time to study all the facts related to the investigation before making an official statement. It also mentioned that its players were on their way back home from bootcamp when the investigation was released.

The statement covers the Neon League tournament as well, which was supposed to be a fabricated tournament for match-fixing according to Morf’s investigation video. According to the organization, its official game was canceled due to abnormally high odds and this was one of the reasons that the community believed they were cheating or match-fixing.

The statement then discusses the two-day investigation HYDRA conducted into all the accusations. It claims it only found that Lefitan was using the Overplus application, which the player uses in pubs to avoid bad teammates, but forgot to turn off during the official games. The organization mentions that Lefitan was fined for this and a public apology was issued. 

Additionally, the organization stated that the recording of its games was released on 22nd Jan, and accusations from Morf’s video that the game recordings were hidden from the public is false and they have been made available to access publicly. HYDRA acknowledged that it is a young organization with limited experience in handling situations of this sort.

In its conclusion, HYDRA adressed it parting ways with Lefitan due to massive reputational risks that could have a significant negative impact on the organization. The team’s other players, such as Kyial "dream`" Tayirov, Vitaliy "Worick" Brezgin, Aleksandr "Cloud" Zakharov, and Siarhei "HappyDyurara" Kharonzhy are apparently significantly impacted by the situation.

The organization has provided its perspective on the situation and submitted a public apology to the team, players, fans, and community as a whole. While there is still no conclusive evidence of the other players of the team cheating and match-fixing, HYDRA's transparency will help matters.