Top CS:GO Team Sues Its Former Coach
Another scandal in the professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene. Danish team Heroic has terminated the contract of its former coach and filed a lawsuit against him. The reason was that he had leaked sensitive information about the team's strategy.
Although most of the CS:GO pro teams are currently enjoying the holiday season, this does not mean that nothing is happening in the world of Valve's shooter. The latest surprising development is the decision by Danish team Heroic (currently ranked #7 in the world) to part ways with their coach Nicolai "Hunden" Petersen. At the same time the team has filed a lawsuit against the former coach. The incident was caused by a conflict between Petersen and the players, which occurred before the IEM Cologne 2021 tournament (July 8-18).
As Heroic's official announcement reads:
"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. [...]"
The case has been reported to two Danish courts, which will proceed further. Additionally, ESL - the tournament organizer - and ESIC (Esports Integrity Commission) have been informed of the situation. These authorities will also investigate whether the situation Hunden is accused of really took place.
The case has already been addressed by ESL representative Ulrich Schulze. According to his words, the institution has conducted an extensive investigation, from which we can conclude, that this incident did not have "any possible impact on the integrity of the IEM Cologne tournament".
Hunden gives his side of the story, denying that he shared the strategy folder for the tournament with his opponents. Petersen only admits that he talked to some players about counter-strategies in the context of sparring. Heroic's former coach also expressed his willingness to work with ESIC and any other authorities to clarify the matter.
