Fnatic, the leading organization in esports, announced today its partnership with Italian football club AS Roma, to introduce the club’s first professional team to FIFA’s growing esports league. This joint venture combines Roma’s rich footballing legacy and global fan base with Fnatic’s esports-related knowledge and expertise to further solidify Roma’s presence in esports. The roster for the AS Roma FIFA team powered by Fnatic includes Sam “Poacher” Carmody, Aman “Aman” Seddiqi, and Nicoló “Insa” Mirra with Manager Colin Johnson.

“FIFA’s entry into the world of esports has received the attention of many organisations both from established football clubs and esports organisations,” said Wouter Sleijffers, CEO of Fnatic. “Fnatic is excited to enter this rising esports game with AS Roma, one of the most iconic clubs in football with a long and successful history.”

Through this collaboration, players will represent Roma in the upcoming FIFA tournaments. Fnatic will manage the team and offer support for training, events and provide all esports-related logistical knowledge to nurture them.

“As one of the most digitally-connected sports teams in the world, we’ve strived to create an organisation at Roma that engages our fans through all digital channels,” said Jim Pallotta, President of AS Roma. “With the tremendous growth of eSports and continued attention placed on games like FIFA, we’ve partnered with Fnatic, the world’s leading eSports organisation, to launch our eSports team. This joint venture will enable us to start building a strong legacy in eSports and engage our fans in exciting new ways.”

“We’re thrilled and honoured to work alongside AS Roma by helping the club take its first steps into a new, digital chapter in its rich and storied legacy,” continued Sleijffers. “Whether on the grass or in-game, we share the same ambition: be among the top in the world.”

About Fnatic

Fnatic is a leading, global esports organization with professional teams in the most popular games such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm and more. Since being founded in 2004 by Sam Mathews, Fnatic teams have collected numerous honors including winning the first ever LCS World Championship and winning three CS:GO Majors, in addition to other major gaming titles. In 2015, Fnatic launched Fnatic Gear, the hardware line of gaming peripherals. The organization launched the first ever esports concept store, BUNKR, dedicated to all things esports in 2016. Fnatic is headquartered in London, United Kingdom with additional offices and gaming houses in Berlin, Belgrade, Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur. For more information about Fnatic, visit www.fnatic.com.

About AS Roma

Founded in 1927, the legendary AS Roma plays in the world-renowned Italian Serie A football league. The Rome based professional team – which is competing in the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League – has won three Serie A titles, nine Coppa Italia title and two Supercoppa Italiana titles. AS Roma’s youth academy regularly produce more Serie A players than any other in Italy. Roma is the only Italian League team to be owned and managed by a United States-based group. The group, based out of Boston, is led by owner James Pallotta, Chairman of Raptor Group, who is President of AS Roma. Off the pitch, AS Roma is planning a new 52,000-seat stadium and surrounding entertainment development – Stadio della Roma – that will serve the club and city of Rome as the pre-eminent sports and entertainment district in the world. More information is available at www.stadiodellaroma.com.



(Image) Source: Press release