Arsenal Football Club has appointed Vinai Venkatesham as its Chief Commercial Officer, following Tom Fox’s move to Aston Villa as Chief Executive Officer.

Venkatesham has been with Arsenal for four years since joining from the London 2012 Organising Committee, where he played a key role in raising the £2 billion of private finance required to fund the Games through sponsorship, licensing, hospitality and broadcast deals. 

He is currently Arsenal's Sales and Marketing Director, where he sits on both the Arsenal Executive team and the board of Arsenal Broadband Limited who own the Club's media rights. He will step up into his new role after leading the sale and negotiations of the recent partnership with PUMA and the contract renewal with Emirates.

In this new role, as well as his existing responsibility for Partnerships, Hospitality, Marketing, CRM and Business Strategy, Venkatesham will oversee the Retail and Arsenal Media teams.

Arsenal Chief Executive Officer Ivan Gazidis said: “Tom has played a leading role in our development over the past five seasons and I take it as a great compliment that members of the Arsenal team are sought after for the top jobs in the industry. I wish Tom all the best in his new position.

“Having worked closely with him over the past four seasons, I am very confident that, in Vinai, we have another top class leader who will continue to drive forward the Club’s off field success.”