KSA Chair René Jansen Says Illegal Online Gambling Significantly Reduced in the Netherlands

René Jansen, Chairman of the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA), has said that illegal online gambling has been significantly reduced in the Netherlands since the executive board’s new enforcement policy was introduced.

Jansen said that the sites of 158 illegal providers have been investigated in recent months. It was established that 142 of them have taken measures to prevent Dutch players from accessing their sites – as a result of which their supply is no longer accessible from the Netherlands.

Follow-up investigations and possible sanctioning action are required at 16 sites. A number of these 16 sites were already off the air for the Netherlands after an order subject to penalise was announced. After 1 October, it appeared that a number of large providers without a licence had discontinued their offer in the Netherlands.

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In his speech, René Jansen commented: “This was exactly the intention of the new law: the legal offer had to push the illegal offer away. With legal providers, the player is assured of a fair game and attention to preventing gambling addiction.”

He also commented on recent concerns about advertising, saying that he is “disappointed in the fact that the gaming sector has not been able to muster the control that has been requested.”

The chairman went on to add that the KSA is currently processing 30 licence applications after a surge in the last week of March, most likely linked to the country’s cooling-off period which was set to expire on 1 April.