ESL addresses the racial slur incident at IEM Cologne

In an action packed Cologne outing, Vitality's S-tier event win streak came to an end at the cathedral, The MongolZ took Asian Counter-Strike to yet another first, donk powered Spirit to an IEM Cologne win among countless other high intensity moments yet a couple of video clips from the broadcast of IEM Cologne 2025 took over the internet.

"Rough day at ESL Cologne", said Richard Lewis as he posted his clips on X. One of the clips shows Vitality walking out with the trophy and just as apEX heads forward to place the trophy on the pedestal, the broadcast captures an audience member screaming a racial slur into one of the microphones. Another incident from the NAVI-MongolZ matchup surfaced where Kanye West's "Heil Hitler" was captured on one of the crowd microphones and it kept playing for a good 20-30 seconds.

ESL initially pushed the incidents under the rug but have now given a statement, affirming their stance against hate speech and toxicity. Pley.gg reached out to ESL FACEIT Group and here's the response:

In our arenas and on our stages, ESL FACEIT Group has no tolerance for hate speech or toxicity of any kind. We are outraged by the language by one of the spectators that could be heard during our IEM Cologne broadcast. It’s our top priority to ensure our communities – both online and in-person – are a safe and welcoming space for all.
ESL FACEIT Group, via Pley.gg

As a result of severe social media backlash, ESL reportedly moved to crowd microphones to the roof of the arena, essentially picking up broader areas of the crowd, shutting down the possibilities to tamper and sneak undesirable audio content into the broadcast.