London Esports has appointed Karim Virani as a non-executive director, someone who was previously chief commercial officer for London-based Premier League football club West Ham United.
Karim is the first person to sign an esports player to a Premier League football club. More recently, Karim has also taken on a non-executive director role at Mental Health First Aid England and is the commercial director for fan token platform Socios.
Heading into the Summer 2021 UK League of Legends Championship (UKLC) and UK Esports League (UKEL), Karim says he’s excited to support the team in a more official manner, as the latest member of London Esports’ board.
Karim Virani said: “Joining the team is very exciting, and I love the vision that Alfie [Wright, CEO] and Alex [Harris, director, who joined London Esports last September] have for the org. I hope that I can bring my knowledge, experience and network from both traditional sports and gaming to this project, and together we can build something really great.
“We’ve already secured a fantastic CBD Partner in Aver and we have a second unannounced partner that’s already signed, our teams are looking stronger than ever and we’re ready to take London Esports to the next level.”
“Joining the team is very exciting and I love the vision Alfie and Alex have for the org. I hope that I can bring my knowledge, experience and network from both traditional sports and gaming to this project, and together we can build something really great.”
Karim Virani, London Esports
Alfie Wright, CEO of London Esports, commented: “As a big West Ham fan, I’ve been in contact with Karim for over a year and he’s had a very hands-on role in shaping this organisation for a number of months now. Bringing Karim onboard as a non-executive director was a natural next step, and I look forward to sharing many of the projects Karim, Alex and I have been working on.
“His experience, network and knowledge has had a tremendous impact on the organisation, especially as he joins us with a pre-existing, native understanding of the esports industry, having worked in and around the space for half a decade and been a gamer himself for 20+ years. Also, it helps that he’s not a bad Warzone player!”
Following a successful 18 months in CSGO, London Esports has cemented itself within Rainbow Six Siege and League of Legends with support from the developers of both games.
London Esports says that with the backing of its latest commercial partner, Aver, the brand is ‘poised to enter a new phase of its development, competing at the top level domestically and within Europe’.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
