SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Progress for the Dutch Remote Gambling Act has stalled, after its creator Fred Teeven, Secretary of State for Justice resigned from his position.
Teeven and Nederland’s Justice Minister Ivo Opselten were forced to resign after misleading parliament over a 2001 compensation payment to a convicted drug trafficker.
Teeven a member of the Dutch conservative liberal party VVD, had been a staunch supporter of legalising online gambling in the Netherlands, pushing for the government to open the market to international operators wanting to compete for market share.
The Remote Gambling Act is yet to be approved by the Dutch House of Representatives. Political commentators have stated that it is likely that it will be further delayed as the Netherlands enters Regional Elections on March 18.
The Regional Elections will likely have a substantial influence on the formation of the Dutch Senate. Elected members will likely scale back on online gambling as a key agenda in 2015, thus delaying legalised remote gambling further.
The resignation of Teeven will be a blow to both national and international operators, who at the start of March announced that they had formed Dutch gambling watchdog the Netherlands Gaming Platform, in order to improve communications, advertising standards and best practices for operators targeting Dutch consumers.
