Regulating the Game has appointed Andy Cunningham, Principal of Praxis Integrity, to the independent judging panel for the 2027 RTG Global Awards. The panel now numbers twelve and will assess nominations across twelve categories.
Nominations close on 21 December 2026. Finalists will be announced on 1 February 2027 and winners recognised at the RTG Global Awards Gala Dinner on the evening of 9 March 2027, the second night of the conference.
Andy Cunningham joins the panel
Andy Cunningham has more than 20 years’ experience in sports integrity and has supported sporting bodies, law enforcement agencies, betting regulators and wagering operators around the world in the prevention, detection and investigation of integrity issues and match fixing.
He is Principal at Praxis Integrity, assisting the sports and wagering industries to protect their stakeholders from integrity threats and gambling harm. He previously led Sportradar’s Integrity Services Partnerships Team for over a decade, working closely with sporting bodies and government agencies globally, including the US major leagues and college sports organisations, Australia’s largest sporting codes, international federations and leading esports publishers. Before Sportradar he spent ten years heading up Betfair’s integrity team, overseeing the systems and processes used to monitor wagering patterns, identify suspicious activity and report findings to regulators and sports.
He has acted as an expert witness in match fixing disciplinary proceedings and criminal court cases, and has testified in US state legislative hearings on sports betting regulation and integrity best practice. He has served on International Olympic Committee, United Nations and Australian government expert working groups on countering corruption in sport.
His appointment adds that experience to the assessment of two categories introduced for 2027, the Sport & Wagering Integrity Initiative and the Black Market Disruption Initiative.
The 2027 judging panel
The panel sits outside Regulating the Game and comprises former regulators, sector leaders, integrity specialists and researchers. All twelve judges review entries across the full program of twelve categories. The panel as it now stands is:
Khalid Ali, Chief Executive Officer, International Betting Integrity Association
Kai Cantwell, Chief Executive Officer, Responsible Wagering Australia
Peter Cohen, Director of Regulatory Affairs, The Agenda Group
Andy Cunningham, Principal, Praxis Integrity, and former Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships, Integrity Services, Sportradar
Professor Paul Delfabbro, School of Psychology, Adelaide University
Don Hammond, Chief Executive Officer, Leagues Clubs Australia
Richard Howarth, Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Gaming Laboratories International
Tim Miller, Founder and Managing Director, GamReg Consulting, and former Executive Director of the UK Gambling Commission
Tracy Parker, Senior Vice President, Accreditation, Advisory and Insights, Responsible Gambling Council
Dan Rule, General Manager, Regulatory and Compliance, Endeavour Group
Tess Salmon, Principal and Founder, Aube Communications
Dan Waugh, Partner, Regulus Partners
Twelve categories, six of them new
The program doubled from six categories to twelve for 2027. The six returning categories are Leadership Voice, Safer Gambling Champion, Compliance Excellence, RegTech Solution, Community Impact Initiative and Emerging Leader. The six categories introduced for 2027 are:
Gambling Harm Prevention Campaign, for campaigns, programs and initiatives that reduce gambling related harm through education, awareness or early intervention.
Research Impact, for research or evaluation work translated into practical outcomes for policy, regulation or industry practice.
Sport & Wagering Integrity Initiative, for initiatives that protect the fairness and credibility of sport and wagering markets, including monitoring systems, suspicious betting detection, participant education, information sharing and investigative partnerships.
Compliance Advisory, for advisory firms and service providers that have delivered strong financial crime, compliance or regulatory advice to the sector, including control framework design, remediation, independent reviews and assurance work.
Black Market Disruption Initiative, for initiatives that disrupt, deter or expose illegal gambling activity, including enforcement operations, payment and advertising disruption, detection tools, channelisation strategies and cross border intelligence sharing.
Distinguished Contribution, for an individual whose exceptional contribution to gambling regulation, integrity or industry reform has been sustained over an extended period.
The six additions were selected against the policy problems common to regulators and operators in very different jurisdictions: exposure to financial crime, gambling harm, the leakage of activity into illegal markets, the integrity of sport and wagering, and the few who capably bridge research into regulatory and sector practice.
Nominations open until 21 December
Nominations are open worldwide to individuals, organisations and initiatives, with eligible work undertaken or materially advanced within the past twelve months. Self nominations, third party nominations and joint submissions are all accepted. Anonymous submissions are not accepted. Eligible entrants include operators across betting, wagering, casino, club and pub, technology providers, RegTech and safer gambling suppliers, racing controlling bodies, regulators, individual professionals, researchers and not for profit organisations.
The inaugural awards were conferred across six categories in March 2026, with GambleAlert in Nigeria winning Safer Gambling Champion.
To nominate, or to read the criteria for each category, visit www.regulatingthegame.com/global-awards or contact the team at awards@regulatingthegame.com.
“These awards exist to give standing to the stewards of this sector: the people hardening operators and markets against financial crime, lifting compliance and regulatory capability, reducing harm, protecting the integrity of sport and wagering, and carrying research into practice. That work is done carefully and quietly, and sits largely unseen beneath the scrutiny and criticism this sector attracts, and the awards are an attempt to bring it into view.
The panel brings senior expertise and standing to that assessment. Twelve judges with regulatory, integrity, research and operational experience across several markets assess the categories to which they are assigned. Andy Cunningham brings two decades of sports integrity work conducted at an international level. I would encourage the people doing this work to put it forward, and to do so with confidence.”
PAUL NEWSON, FOUNDER OF REGULATING THE GAME AND PRINCIPAL AT VANGUARD OVERWATCH
