Netherlands' Council of State rejects Sabofra appeal over arcade licence
Licences & markets2 min read
The Netherlands' Council of State ruled on 4 November 2026 in Sabofra's appeal concerning its arcade-machine operating licence. The company had challenged the Kansspelautoriteit's refusal of a new licence, which the regulator based on alleged poor conduct linked to cash centres used to facilitate illegal online gambling. The report says the court found the regulator's cited facts showed evidently poor conduct.
The administrative law division of the Netherlands' Council of State issued a ruling on 4 November 2026 in the case of Sabofra. According to the division, the facts cited by the Kansspelautoriteit amount to evidently poor conduct on Sabofra's part.
Sabofra has operated gaming machines since 1982 and held a licence for this until 22 January 2023. It applied for a new operating licence on 18 November 2022, and the Kansspelautoriteit rejected the application on 28 March 2023. The Kansspelautoriteit said the case involved poor conduct within the meaning of the Betting and Gaming Act. Sabofra lodged an objection, which the Kansspelautoriteit declared unfounded on 25 September 2023. The Amsterdam court declared Sabofra's appeal unfounded on 27 May 2025, after which Sabofra appealed further. The division heard the case on 23 September 2026.
The case concerns the facilitation of illegal online gambling through cash centres. According to the division, cash centres let customers create an account on a device and top it up with cash. That credit can be used for a limited number of purposes, including taking part in online gambling on the illegal site Forzza.com. The revenue generated by these cash centres came largely from participation in illegal online gambling through Forzza.
In March 2026 the division ruled in a different case that the Kansspelautoriteit had rightly withdrawn the operating licence of HVD speelautomaten for poor conduct. That case also involved cash centres, and the division said it had been shown that they are mainly used to facilitate illegal gambling. The division said a professional operator is expected to be aware of such risks and should have foreseen and prevented them. The division found that the position was no different for Sabofra.