Raad van State weighs Sabofra licence refusal after Ksa denied renewal

The Council of State (Raad van State) is considering the case of gaming machine operator Sabofra after the Ksa refused to renew its licence, the regulator having cited poor conduct by the company's two owners over cash centres where illegal gambling was possible. The case was heard at the highest administrative court in The Hague. A ruling is expected within weeks.

The Ksa refused the renewal application in 2023. According to the regulator, the grounds included cash centres that facilitated illegal online gambling and money laundering, and an incident in which one of the brothers damaged a parked car and drove on. The Ksa said that incident was not as serious as the cash centres but underlined its view of poor conduct.

The brothers had already gone to court over the refusal, and in 2025 the Rechtbank Amsterdam found in favour of the Kansspelautoriteit. They appealed that judgment. The company is run by the two brothers, and they say the refusal has cost them millions of euros in revenue. They expect the Council of State to intervene and order the Ksa to grant Sabofra a new licence.

Sabofra placed Cash-Centers next to its fruit machines around 2018, as other gaming machine companies did. The machines were intended as a payment method for anonymous purchases but were also used to gamble illegally on sports matches anonymously. The Ksa had previously acted against several operators of cash centres, including Sabofra, but did not withdraw Sabofra's licence at that time.

The brothers say they removed all cash centres from their customers once it became clear the devices were also used for illegal gambling. Their lawyer said they did not know about the possibility of illegal gambling before it drew national attention, pointing to the brothers' quick action in asking customers to remove the cash centres and to compensation they gave businesses where a cash centre had been placed. The brothers call the Ksa's decision incomprehensible and unfair, say the company never laundered revenue and always paid tax, and describe as outrageous the regulator's inclusion of parking and speeding fines in its assessment of their conduct.

A Ksa spokesperson said the brothers should have known that minors could use the cash centres to gamble illegally, and that the high income from the centres should have stood out. The spokesperson said a professional gambling provider is expected to be responsible and to look closely at what it offers, adding that an average fruit machine generates €1,400 a week while a Cash Center column brought in €16,000 over the same period. The regulator also said a column was still active in a snack bar after the brothers had called to have it unplugged; the brothers say the blame for that cannot be placed on them.

If the Council of State agrees with the regulator, the Hilversum-based operators would be unable to apply for a new gaming machine licence for eight years.