Pimp on lifting HUNDEN's ban: "Many will continue to look at him with disgust"

Analyst Jacob "Pimp" Winneche spoke in a comment to the Danish television channel TV2 about the Esports Integrity Commission's (ESIC) decision to lift the ban of Heroic's former coach Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, who was convicted of sharing the team's strategy folder with a competing team at IEM Cologne 2021. In his opinion, despite allowing him back into the CS:GO pro scene, it will be difficult for the Danish specialist to restore his reputation, since he was also a key person in the coaching bug abuse case.

The news of HUNDEN's ban being lifted is somewhat surprising. It's been a long time since the case was covered up, so this decision is interesting. This person was banned from competition for 15 months, so such a drastic turnaround looks strange. HUNDEN's reputation in CS:GO has been hit hard, regardless of ESIC's decision, there is no doubt that many will continue to look at him with disgust. He still embodies the big cheating scandal of a year and a half ago. Whether it is fair to blame him now, given the latest news from ESIC, is debatable, but his reputation is, to put it mildly, tarnished. Many famous personalities, experts and others have openly criticized him, so it will not be easy to deal with it.

At the same time, Winneche is convinced that HUNDEN will not be out of work. He recalled the statement of Astralis, when they came out in support of the coach and expressed their readiness to consider the possibility of cooperation after the expiration of the ban.

I'm very much confident that HUNDEN has a future in Counter-Strike. He has great potential and has historically been a guarantee of success. The obvious choice is of course Astralis, who have previously stated that they see no problem in hiring HUNDEN after his ban expires. Now that it's possible, it'll be exciting to see if that's the case.

Pimp also spoke negatively about ESIC's work. The analyst questioned the integrity of the organization which is itself designed to protect integrity.

What ESIC is exposing us to is essentially a farce. It is an organization that was supposed to safeguard the principles of integrity in Counter-Strike, but we see that the integrity of their own work is one big question mark. That in itself is so ironic to the point where it is hard to take seriously. This isn't the first time ESIC has looked stupid, and it won't be the last. The lack of communication leaves more questions than answers, and I'm definitely not a fan of that.

Earlier on December 2, ESIC announced that it had had an in-person meeting with Petersen, where the parties came to terms on lifting the two-year ban of the coach. The 31-year-old specialist, however, agreed to undertake "relevant training".

Origin: sport.tv2.dk