On July 28, Petersen took to Twitter to emphatically deny allegations that he shared Heroic’s strategy book with a rival team. While he did acknowledge sharing some materials related to shared opponents before a tournament, he clarified, "The material I have shared is anti-strat material of opponents. This material was shared with colleagues from other teams in the context of sparring." He emphasized, "At no point in time has Heroic’s own tactics been shared or discussed. In addition to this, I want to state that I will always cooperate with ESIC and other relevant institutions as well as provide documentation about anything found necessary to the case."
In response to Petersen's public comments, ESIC noted it felt compelled to release its own statement on the developing investigation to mitigate speculation. On July 6, ESIC received notice alleging that Petersen might have violated its Integrity Program in connection with the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne tournament, held from July 6 to July 18. This prompted ESIC to launch an investigation into the claims, reviewing evidence and exploring other avenues of inquiry.
ESIC informed ESL, the IEM Cologne organizer, of the situation before the tournament commenced, leading to joint efforts to assess any possible implications for tournament integrity resulting from Petersen’s alleged actions. Though preliminary findings indicated Petersen's behavior could potentially breach the Integrity Program, it was determined that the tournament's integrity remained intact.
Since the conclusion of the tournament, ESIC has maintained communication with all parties involved and is currently awaiting further evidence from various seizures conducted under Danish legal processes by Heroic. Upon receiving additional information, ESIC will evaluate whether there were any breaches of its Integrity Program and discern suitable actions, if necessary.
Heroic publicly stated that prior to IEM Cologne, the team unanimously opted not to allow Petersen to participate due to significant trust issues. They claimed that his actions included sharing confidential information from the team’s strategy folder with a major competitor before the tournament. Following this decision, Petersen reportedly restricted team members’ access to the strategy folder. Heroic has labeled Petersen's actions as a clear violation of his contract, which has since been terminated, and noted that a legal process is currently underway in Denmark.
Previously, Petersen was one of three professional Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) coaches banned last September for exploiting an in-game bug to gain an unfair advantage in matches.
