{"id":11204,"date":"2026-08-29T22:09:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T22:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/29\/pierre-tournier-takes-interim-egba-leadership-role\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T22:09:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T22:09:22","slug":"pierre-tournier-takes-interim-egba-leadership-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/29\/pierre-tournier-takes-interim-egba-leadership-role\/","title":{"rendered":"Pierre Tournier Takes Interim EGBA Leadership Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The European Gaming and Betting Association has appointed Pierre Tournier as interim secretary general from September 1, 2026, replacing Maarten Haijer after almost two decades with the Brussels based trade body.<\/p>\n<p>Tournier says tackling unlicensed gambling will sit near the top of his agenda as EGBA continues its work on player protection, regulation and industry standards across Europe.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Good to Know<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pierre Tournier becomes interim secretary general on September 1.<\/li>\n<li>He joined EGBA in November 2025 after senior roles at the BGC and RGA.<\/li>\n<li>Maarten Haijer leaves after joining EGBA in 2008 and leading it since 2013.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong>Tournier Takes Over As EGBA Targets Unlicensed Market<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Tournier brings more than 15 years of gambling policy and advocacy experience. Before joining EGBA as senior director, he served as international director at the Betting and Gaming Council and director of government relations at the Remote Gambling Association. EGBA says his current work includes coordination with national trade groups and efforts against the unlicensed market.<\/p>\n<p>Commenting on the leadership change, Tournier said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI would like to pay tribute to Maarten for his outstanding work. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>He described unlicensed gambling as <em>\u201cthe biggest threat to players and to the regulated sector alike\u201d<\/em> and said combating it would form a central part of his work.<\/p>\n<p>That position follows an increasingly active EGBA campaign against unlicensed operators. In July, the association called for stronger enforcement against payment companies processing transactions for unlicensed gambling sites and argued that cutting payment access could reduce their reach across Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Tournier also pledged to support <em>\u201chigh industry standards, regulatory best practices and lead the debates that will shape our industry\u2019s future\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Haijer Leaves After Long EGBA Tenure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Haijer joined EGBA in 2008 and became secretary general in 2013. During that period, the association increased its work with EU institutions, national regulators and licensed online gambling operators.<\/p>\n<p>EGBA also developed European Safer Gambling Week under his leadership. The 2025 edition included 23 events and more than 2,500 participants, while the 2026 campaign is scheduled for November 16 to 22.<\/p>\n<p>Haijer said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt has been a privilege to lead EGBA and to work alongside our members, colleagues, partners, regulators and policymakers towards the common objective of a safe and sustainable online gambling sector in Europe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>His departure comes as EGBA continues work on safer gambling, advertising controls and anti money laundering standards. The association also backed the new European standard on markers of gambling harm in 2026, with members committing to progressively align their operations with it.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/casino-news\/pierre-tournier-takes-interim-egba-leadership-role\/\">Pierre Tournier Takes Interim EGBA Leadership Role<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/igaming.org\/\">iGaming.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The European Gaming and Betting Association has appointed Pierre Tournier as interim secretary general from September 1, 2026, replacing Maarten Haijer after almost two decades with the Brussels based trade body. Tournier says tackling unlicensed gambling will sit near the top of his agenda as EGBA continues its work on player protection, regulation and industry [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11204\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casino-online-best.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}