October 18, 2021
ESIC Declassified Report Into Allegations Against Players for Complicity
- On 2nd September 2020, ESIC made its first public statement about exploitation of a spectator bug in CS:GO. Among the first three coaches sanctioned at the end of August 2020 was then Heroic coach, Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen (“Mr. Petersen”), who was banned for his exploitation of the spectator bug during professional play.
- On 24 August 2021, ESIC issued a further sanction against Mr. Petersen for conduct that breached the ESIC Integrity Program.
- On 4 September 2021, Mr. Petersen, following on from allegations he made publicly on Danish television several days before, 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.
- Petersen’s referral of ‘information’ which he stated supports his allegations (“Allegation Referral”) included:
- A written statement from Mr. Petersen laying out his allegations.
- Screenshots of text and messenger conversations with various individuals related to the team.
- Screenshots of a contemporaneous text conversation with an anonymous individual known as “Robert” around the time of the original spectator bug bans of September 2020.
- A voice recording and transcripts of Mr. Petersen’s conversation with Nikolaj “niko” Kristensen (“ Kristensen”).
- A Non-Disclosure Agreement (unsigned) relating to the spectator bug incident that would, if signed, have prohibited the players from disclosing information publicly about the incident.
- Despite the fact that the allegations brought forward by Mr. Petersen in his Allegation Referral are contrary to previous public statements Mr. Petersen has made, ESIC opened a formal investigation into the matter on 6 September 2021.