MAD Lions captain Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen has been moved to the bench with immediate effect, HLTV.org has confirmed.

The experienced in-game leader has been removed from the active line-up following internal issues, which leaves the Danish team on the lookout for a new player just two days prior to the start of the closed qualifier for the Europe Minor.

The decision came a week after MAD Lions returned from IEM Katowice, where they had placed 9th-12th after beating Virtus.pro and sustaining losses to Evil Geniuses and mousesports.

HUNDEN has been removed from the starting line-up

HUNDEN was the second-longest running member of the team, which he had joined in January 2019 when it still played under Tricked. He led the squad to victory at the V4 Future Sports Festival 2019 and to an equally impressive 11th place in the world rankings after a streak of semi-final runs under MAD Lions already.

The Danish team will face Sprout in the opening round of the Minor qualifier, scheduled for this weekend. Later this month, MAD Lions will compete in the inaugural season of FLASHPOINT as one of the league's franchise partners.

With this move, the Danish team will look as follows: