On 2 September WESA received the independent, third-party report by Ian Smith (Commissioner of ESIC) into recent allegations against NiP. Together with Ian Smith, WESA has decided to publish the report in full.
The report does not find that the current management of NiP (that was installed in March 2016 after the removal of the old management) including Hicham Chahine was actively involved in any malicious activities around the allegations raised by former players and employees including Fifflaren. The report further outlines that the new management under Hicham Chahine had to deal with issues arising from gross mismanagement of the previous management of NiP and did take appropriate action where necessary. In addition, NiP´s current corporate governance structure is described as professional with strict procedures and protocols that ensure strong oversight by the Board of Directors. While some of the handling of these situations still caused issues for individuals, the overall picture shows that the intention of the current NiP management was always to resolve and improve the situation.
Given the findings of the report WESA Commissioner Pietro Fringuelli concluded that the activities of Ninjas in Pyjamas and Hicham Chahine do not merit any formal consequences. Therefore, NiP will remain a full member of WESA and Hicham Chahine will continue to sit on the WESA Executive Board.
WESA´s Code of Conduct and comprehensive compliance framework allowed the organisation to mandate an independent third-party review to address allegations against one of the WESA member teams. WESA Commissioner Pietro Fringuelli stated: “WESA has taken the allegations against NiP very seriously and will continue to offer a platform for a fair and independent review of allegations against our member teams in accordance with WESA´s industry leading regulatory framework.”
WESA remains committed to support the sustainable growth of esports, based on the shared values of fairness, transparency, and integrity among all stakeholders.