Championship Gaming Series™ (CGS) announced today its 2008 slate of UK and European General Managers: Jonas “bESEL” Vikan (Berlin Allianz), Michael “ODEE” O’Dell (Birmingham Salvo), Emil “HeatoN” Christensen (Stockholm Magnetik) and newly appointed Benjamin “Ben” Woodward (London Mint) as the league prepares for the 2008 CGS Qualifier and Draft for the United Kingdom and Europe. The highly-anticipated event will take place at Europe’s premiere gaming center, Omega Sektor, in Birmingham, UK May 16-18.

“CGS is the only global professional gaming league in the world, with 18 teams led by General Managers competing for the title of World Champion and the USD$500,000 first place prize for winning the USD$1,000,000 CGS CGS World Final,” said Andy Reif, CGS CEO and Commissioner. “We’re very impressed with the passion and commitment found in our UK and European GMs and we’re all looking forward to seeing who will dominate at the upcoming Qualifier and Draft events and become the players representing our UK and EU teams on the world stage.”

At the UK and EU Combine/Draft on May 16-18, UK and European gamers will try to impress the General Managers and show that they have what it takes to become a professional gamer. The gamers will be competing for a share of more than £27,000 in prize money during the event.

CGS and Eurosport recently announced a groundbreaking deal to broadcast CGS pro gaming competitions throughout Europe. The inaugural and historic 2007 CGS World Finals competition will appear on Eurosport 2 starting on April 28 and will continue through May 3.

The 2008 slate of General Managers for the UK and Europe is:
London Mint - Benjamin “Ben” Woodward
Birmingham Salvo - Michael "ODEE" O'Dell
Stockholm Magnetik - Emil "HeatoN" Christensen
Berlin Allianz - Jonas "bESEL" Vikan

LONDON MINT
London Mint GM Ben Woodward has been involved in eSports since he was 18, when he traveled to his first event in Dallas. Since that time, Woodward has traveled to more than 15 countries around the world as General Manager for the 4Kings organization. Woodward has also worked for SteelSeries ApS in Copenhagen, Denmark. Outgoing GM Sujoy Roy is stepping down to focus on expanding his gaming center company Gamerbase.com.

BIRMINGHAM SALVO
GM Michael O'Dell has been playing video games for more than 25 years, when he first earned his gaming cred on old-school 1980s classics. His entrance to the professional gaming community began when he joined the Vicious Fruits Clan playing alongside top UK players. He later moved into team management, leading Team Dignitas for several years. In addition to his interests in video gaming, O'Dell has played a variety of other sports including cricket, European football and swimming.

STOCKHOLM MAGNETIK
Stockholm Magnetik GM Emil “HeatoN” joined CGS last year capping a legendary career as a Counter-Strike player, where he previously held the role of Captain and Coach of the NiP Gaming team. Since beginning his career as a pro gamer in 2001, Christensen has played with some of the best teams in the world and has won numerous accolades and major competitions, establishing himself as one of the world’s best-known CS players.

BERLIN ALLIANZ
Jonas "bESEL" Vikan joined CGS last year with an extensive background in professional gaming, highlighted by his leadership roles in launching and shaping several of the most-talented Counter-Strike teams in the world, including MIBR, NoA and Catch-Gamer. Jonas is also an established pro gaming journalist and his commentary and analysis is published in numerous magazines and websites throughout the world.