Gamblers Connect Founder Gjorgje Ristikj Named to Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 Judging Panel

by Dimitri Dimitrov Published on July 20, 2026
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Key Takeaways
⏱ 2 min read
1
Judging seat confirmed — Gjorgje Ristikj, founder of Gamblers Connect and the flagship LinkDataMedia brand, joins the panel of judges at the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026
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Ceremony details — The awards take place on Wednesday, 30 September 2026 at MEO Arena in Lisbon, sitting inside the wider SBC Summit programme
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Organiser — The Affiliate Leaders Awards are hosted by SBC, one of the four Official and Premier Partners in the Gamblers Connect events calendar
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Editorial context — Gamblers Connect operates as independent B2B iGaming media. The judging seat is an editorial appointment and carries no commercial arrangement with SBC
✓ Fact-checked Sources verified before publication
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SBC has confirmed the Gamblers Connect founder among the panel of industry judges evaluating entries at the 2026 edition of the Affiliate Leaders Awards, hosted at MEO Arena in Lisbon on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.

The appointment

Gjorgje Ristikj, founder of Gamblers Connect, has been confirmed as a judge for the 2026 edition of the Affiliate Leaders Awards. The ceremony takes place at MEO Arena in Lisbon on Wednesday, 30 September 2026, sitting inside the wider SBC Summit programme in the Portuguese capital.

The Affiliate Leaders Awards recognise the strongest work across the iGaming affiliate ecosystem, from operators running the leading affiliate programmes through to networks, publishers, technology providers, and the individuals driving performance in the sector. Judges are drawn from across the industry to bring a mix of operator, supplier, media, and platform perspectives to the evaluation process.

From the Founder

Founder, Gjorgje Ristikj, on the invitation:

“Some invitations you say yes to before finishing the email. This was one of them. Genuinely honoured to be judging at the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 in Lisbon. Recognising the best work in our industry, and being trusted to help do it, means a lot to me. Grateful to SBC for the trust.”

Editorial context

Gamblers Connect operates as an independent B2B iGaming media platform. The judging seat is an editorial appointment. There is no commercial arrangement, sponsorship, or listing exchange between Gamblers Connect and SBC connected to the appointment or its coverage on the platform. Where SBC events appear elsewhere in Gamblers Connect coverage as Official and Premier Partners of the wider events calendar, that relationship is disclosed on the pages where it applies under the Commercial Disclosure Policy.

The founder brief at Gamblers Connect covers editorial direction, strategic vision, and industry standing. Judging appointments of this kind are handled inside the editorial function rather than the commercial team, in line with the Editorial Independence and Firewall policy published in the 41 policy library.

What comes next

The Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 shortlist and ceremony schedule are set to follow through the standard SBC awards timeline. Gamblers Connect will cover the shortlist reveal and the ceremony itself as editorial coverage inside the Events vertical, cross linked with the Latest News feed on the night. 

Dimitri Dimitrov
Dimitri Dimitrov

Dimitri is an iGaming expert with nearly a decade of experience and a knack for crafting content that speaks directly to the iGaming crowd. He understands affiliate marketing, player psychology, and search algorithms, which enables him to write engaging, data-driven articles.

Sources
1 source verified before publication. How we verify sources →
1
Gamblers Connect
Gjorgje Ristikj, Founder of Gamblers Connect · Official Body Primary
"Some invitations you say yes to before finishing the email. This was one of them. Genuinely honoured to be judging at the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 in Lisbon. Recognising the best work in our industry, and being trusted to help do it, means a lot to me. Grateful to SBC for the trust."
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gjorgje-r/ ↗
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