Dutch KSA Chair Michel Groothuizen Urges Creation of International Investigative Service to Address Global Scale of Illegal Gambling
KSA chair Michel Groothuizen has called for an international investigative service, stating national regulators cannot match the illegal gambling market alone. Half of every euro Dutch players wager goes to unlicensed operators, whose global turnover exceeds most countries’ GDPs. The comments follow a parliamentary debate on market reforms and black-market growth.
SCCG Take — National regulation alone cannot counter global criminal networks. European coordination is required to enforce effectively and safeguard legal operators.
According to reporting by Focus Gaming News, Michel Groothuizen, chair of the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has called for the creation of an international investigative service to tackle illegal gambling. Groothuizen contends that national regulators are outmatched by the scale and reach of the black market.
The remarks followed the Netherlands’ annual gambling committee debate, as the country’s regulated online gambling market approaches its fifth anniversary. Discussions included player protection, proposals to raise the legal gambling age to 21, advertising restrictions, and the continued expansion of unlicensed operations.
The Scale of the Illegal Gambling Market
Groothuizen described illegal gambling as an unprecedentedly large and complex problem. “Of every euro a Dutch person gambles away, half goes to the illegal market,” he said. The KSA chair added that the turnover of the global illegal gambling market “exceeds the GDP of any country, with the exception of the US and China.”
He rejected the common image of foreign companies with sound business practices that occasionally attract Dutch players through internet freedom. Groothuizen welcomed parliamentary attention to website-blocking measures and the potential use of false identities in enforcement actions against unlicensed operators. He further noted the growing role of social media in promoting illegal services and stated that the KSA is holding major tech companies accountable.
The Case for European Coordination
Groothuizen expressed disappointment that the international character of the issue received limited attention in the debate. He argued that support from other jurisdictions is essential. “Inevitably, we need Europe to persuade such parties to cooperate with us in the fight against illegal gambling,” he said. “It is naive to cling to the idea that a well-regulated legal national market and a national regulator are sufficient to tackle this problem. We are fighting a global network of ruthless criminal organisations with dedicated community police officers, whereas we should actually be deploying an international investigative service.”
Real impact, he concluded, requires clout at the European level. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has likewise advocated closer cooperation among authorities to counter illegal providers. These positions make clear that isolated national enforcement cannot disrupt the infrastructure sustaining unlicensed operations across borders. Regulators will need to translate this recognition into concrete mechanisms that match the transnational nature of the challenge.
Reporting: Focus Gaming News
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