Jan Henric Buettner, driving force, sponsor and organiser of the Freestyle Grand Slam, said that he was very surprised when he received the news from Niemann that he would not be taking part in Paris.

According to Buettner, communication with Niemann was very good after it became clear that Niemann would receive a wild card for Paris. However, a meeting with the players was scheduled for the evening of 5 April, but Niemann did not attend. Niemann also failed to respond to a request from Buettner during the day.

On the evening of the 5th, tournament director Sebastian Siebrecht received a message from Niemann, not via What's App but, unusually, by email, in which Niemann announced that he was in talks with a substitute player to take his place in the tournament. Buettner's queries via What's App remained unanswered.

When Buettner received the email, he was very concerned about the organisation of the tournament, not only because of the need to find a replacement player, but also because of the many organisational changes involved. 

At that moment, Buettner had not thought at all about the reasons why Niemann withdrew at such short notice. The Norwegian platform TV2 speculated in a post that the particularly high anti-cheating precautions at this tournament could be the reason for Niemann's withdrawal. Buettner, however, reports that these measures have been known to Niemann for a long time. Niemann's intention had even been to clear his name with a good performance under the high anti-cheating measures.