International education provider GEMS Education has named Chester King, Founder and President of the British Esports Federation, as its official Esports Ambassador. Under the partnership, the newly established GEMS School of Research and Innovation (SRI) in Dubai Sports City will serve as the flagship hub to develop an education-led esports ecosystem across the GEMS network.
Established in 2025 as GEMS’ flagship innovation facility, SRI delivers an enhanced British National Curriculum integrating artificial intelligence, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and digital literacy. As Esports Ambassador, King will work with educators to construct personalised learning pathways that connect competitive gaming with transferable skills, including event management, cybersecurity, digital marketing, and leadership.
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“Bringing Chester’s experience into the GEMS network, with SRI serving as a hub for research and practice, gives us an opportunity to build an approach to esports that is grounded firmly in education, wellbeing and student development,” said Dino Varkey, Group CEO of GEMS Education, in a press release.
“Esports can be a powerful platform for education when it is approached with purpose. It brings together competition, creativity, strategy, teamwork and technology, while opening doors to a much wider range of careers and opportunities than professional play alone,” said King, “the opportunity is to create an environment where students can participate safely, teachers are supported, and young people can learn directly from people working across the global esports and gaming industry.”
King brings extensive governance and investment experience across international esports and corporate sectors. Having founded the British Esports Federation in 2016, he has overseen the development of the National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland.
Alongside his role at British Esports, King serves as Vice President of the Global Esports Federation (GEF) and Vice-Chairman of the International Defence Esports Games (IDEG), which is preparing to host its inaugural UK finals in late 2026 with support from the UK Ministry of Defence. He is also a core partner in the $50m Esports Global fund backed by the Alshaya family, a Kuwait-based investment group.
King recently served as Acting President of the European Esports Federation (EEF) before standing in its September 2026 presidential election in Skopje, where Goran Kuzmić was elected with 55% of the vote.
