POKÉMON Unite world champion team, BLVKHVND, has announced that it is parting ways with its coach, Mike ‘Excellund’ Lund Anderson, following allegations of sexual harassment.
‘Excellund’ coached the team BLVKHVND (pronounced Black Hand) to win the trophy and $100,000 (£85k) at the Pokémon World Championships held last week in London.
Former team coach ‘Excellund’ is pictured top right.
BLVKHVND became the first team to win the Pokémon Unite World Championship title, as it was the first time the game was held at the event.
Both Pokémon Unite and Pokémon Go were introduced to the tournament this year.
It also featured Pokken, Pokémon mainline series competitive play, and the Trading Card game.
The Japanese team beat out Renaissance, a team from Singapore, in a close finals match.
This resulted in BLVKHVND’s undefeated victory at the competition.
However, a Twitter post made last night (August 25) from the team’s official account, announced ‘Excellund’s departure from the team.
The post reads: “Effective immediately, BLVKHVND has parted ways with Mike ‘Excellund’ Lund Anderson from our Pokémon Unite roster.
“A sexual harrassment incident has been brought to BLVKHVND’s attention.
“After an investigation both the player group and the organisation have made the decision to immediately end any association with Excellund.
“We ask that you please respect the privacy of those involved in the matter going forward.”
More details about the incident have not been released and Excellund has not publicly commented on his removal from the team.
The team is also reportedly not commenting further on the incident in an effort to keep everyone’s privacy.
The 23-year-old former coach appears to have not returned to social media following the statement, as his Twitter bio still claims he is “Coach for BLVKHVND”.
His Twitch page and Twitter header also include an image of Mr Mime from Pokémon Unite and BLVKHVND’s slogan “Heavy is the HVND”.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
