The World Esports Association (WESA) has expanded its leadership group following “successful first phase of growth”.

Pietro Fringuelli succeeds Ken Hershman as WESA Executive Chairman and Commissioner.

WESA states it has been successful in “further professionalizing esports through standards and regulations” with developers Hi-Rez and Ubisoft since its 2016 launch.

The result of joint efforts between ESL and professional team organizations such as Fnatic , OpTIc Gaming and mousesports , esports organization WESA is expanding its leadership group following what it calls a “successful first phase of growth”.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Jan Pommer, a lawyer and the former commissioner of the German Basketball Bundesliga, will also join as special adviser.[/perfectpullquote]

Pietro Fringuelli—partner at German law firm CMS Hasche Sigle—will succeed former HBO Sports president Ken Hershman as WESA Commissioner, and additionally head a new, larger group tasked with leadership and the management of day to day operations. Fringuelli helped develop the legal framework for WESA in 2015, prior to the founding of the association.

Jan Pommer, a lawyer and the former commissioner of the German Basketball Bundesliga, will also join as special adviser to the new commissioner. Pommer is also director of team and federation relations at ESL.

“We have had many learning experiences since the launch of WESA on different levels,” stated Hicham Chahine, CEO of Swedish esports team organization Ninjas in Pajamas and member of the WESA executive board, “which we have learned from, with the ambition of improving in order to position the organization for further growth.”

Seeking to introduce “player representation, standardized regulations and revenue sharing” for teams, WESA also oversees the ESL Pro League Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competition, and the Paladins Premier League with developer Hi-Rez Studios .

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Founded in May 2016, WESA started with eight founding members, governing the ESL Pro League.[/perfectpullquote]

Founded in May 2016, WESA started with eight founding members, and governed the CS:GO ESL Pro League as a prototype for league operations. Since then, the organization had added five more teams, and worked with developer Ubisoft to found the Rainbow 6 Pro League. WESA claims it is developing a balanced esports “eco-system”, which relies on “transparent and proven practices and principles.”

Alongside WESA, which focuses on player representation, standardized regulations, and revenue sharing for teams, there are also now several dedicated player associations within esports. The Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association was formed earlier this year in partnership with the Danish Elite Athletes Association (DEAA). Its board consists of seven professional CS:GO players from around the world, with daily operations and legal counsel operated by the DEAA.

On a larger scale, the North American League of Legends Championship Series also announced in June that its newly restructured league would feature an official players association. All of its executive officers are professional League of Legends players, and unlike other esports player associations, the organization was spearheaded and will be initially overseen by League of Legends publisher and developer Riot Games .