Maarten Haijer Moves From EGBA to Lead a New Global Gambling Alliance in Geneva

The former Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association is the first Director General of the World Gaming and Betting Alliance, a Swiss association whose listed members are bet365, Entain, FDJ United, Flutter and EGBA itself. The Geneva commercial register shows it was founded on 9 July and already had Haijer as a signatory before EGBA announced he was leaving.

• Maarten Haijer, who led the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) for 13 years, is the first Director General of the World Gaming and Betting Alliance (WGBA), according to the alliance's website and his own LinkedIn post
• The WGBA is a non-profit association under Swiss law, founded on 9 July 2026 with its registered seat in Lancy, in the canton of Geneva, according to its entry in the commercial register
• Its website lists bet365, Entain, FDJ United and Flutter as members alongside EGBA, which it describes as a founding member; all four operators are also members of EGBA
• The register entry, published on 4 August, already gave Haijer individual signing authority, three weeks before EGBA announced his departure and named Pierre Tournier interim Secretary General
• Haijer says the alliance will launch formally in Geneva later this year alongside its first flagship report; NEXT.io reports the launch is set for November

A Brussels Trade Body Builds a Global One in Geneva

Haijer's appointment was made public in a LinkedIn post and on the WGBA's governance page, which names him as Director General of the secretariat that runs the alliance day to day. The WGBA describes itself as a global alliance of regulated gaming and betting operators, industry associations and other stakeholders.

The Swiss record is more precise than the announcement. The Geneva commercial register entered the association in its journal on 30 July, and the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce published it on 4 August. It gives a founding date of 9 July 2026 and a registered address in Grand-Lancy care of a fiduciary firm. Its stated purpose is to act as a common voice for the regulated gaming and betting sector in global policy discussions and multilateral forums, including on international standards for integrity and consumer protection and on action against illegal operators. The board, chaired by Rolf Sims, also includes David Foster, Andrew Pointon and Mark Warrington; the register does not say which members they represent. Haijer is listed with individual signing authority under the title of secretary general.

The link to EGBA is close. The WGBA's imprint page says that while the new entity is being established, its website is administered by EGBA, "one of the WGBA's founding members". The four operators on the WGBA's member page are all on EGBA's own list of members, which also includes Betsson, Evoke, LeoVegas, Superbet and Tipico; those five do not appear on the WGBA page. None of the four operators had published its own statement on the alliance that iGaming Times could find, and the WGBA has not disclosed its budget or membership fees.

Haijer joined EGBA in 2008 as Director of Regulatory Affairs and became Secretary General in 2013, according to the association. When EGBA announced on 27 August that he was stepping down, with Tournier taking over on an interim basis from 1 September, Haijer said he would "make an announcement about my future shortly". EGBA has not named a permanent successor.

What the Alliance Says It Is For

In his LinkedIn post, as quoted by SBC News and NEXT.io, Haijer wrote that "the global regulatory landscape is evolving fast, and the case for well-regulated markets has never been more important, both for consumers and for the societies in which they operate." He said the WGBA would be formally launched "later this year in Geneva, alongside our first flagship report."

The website sets out the argument the alliance intends to make. It calls illegal gambling "the fastest-growing threat to consumer protection, market integrity and public revenues", argues that "overly restrictive regulation and prohibitions can unintentionally strengthen the illegal gambling market", and calls for faster takedowns and payment disruption because licensed operators cannot tackle illegal supply alone. The alliance describes itself, in a statement quoted by NEXT.io, as "a central hub for intelligence, analysis and evidence on safe and sustainable gambling". Its publications page says it will supply data to policymakers "from the WHO to national governments and regulators", referring to the World Health Organization; its news page lists a single item introducing the alliance, which did not open when checked on 12 October, and no publications or events are listed yet.

The Alliance Arrives as Its Members' Arguments Are Being Tested

The WGBA's case against prohibition is not abstract for its members. Brazil's ban on fixed-odds betting and online casino by provisional measure has already forced Flutter and Entain to tell investors what it will cost them, and in Europe EGBA has opposed the 1% EU-wide online gambling levy floated for the 2028 to 2034 budget, as have Poland's four gambling trade bodies. The WGBA has not published a position on either. Its own material lists taxes and levies that fund public services among the benefits of regulated markets. A body registered to speak in multilateral forums, and naming the Geneva-based WHO first among its intended audiences, gives the largest operators a single voice outside the EU institutions where EGBA works. That matters when the decisions with the biggest effect on them are being taken in Brasília and national treasuries rather than Brussels.

The First Report Will Decide Its Credibility

Haijer has tied the formal launch to a flagship report, and that document will be judged against a crowded field. Within a single day in September, a Euromat study put Europe's illegal online market at €12 billion and a BGC-promoted report put the global figure at $50 billion, each paid for by an interested party and neither comparable with the other. A report from an alliance whose listed operator members are four of the world's largest groups will face the same question. The WGBA says Haijer will lead work on "enhancing the evidence base that underpins gambling regulation", according to iGaming Business; publishing its method and data in full would do more for that aim than another headline number.

EGBA's Secretary General of 13 years now speaks for a narrower group of its members on a wider stage. What the November report says, and who else joins, will show whether the WGBA becomes a global voice for regulated gambling or a second address for the same four companies.