Brussels casino concession enters judicial phase after anonymous complaint

On 17 July 2026, the City of Brussels selected ECK, the company behind Napoleon Games, for the new concession.

The agreement was intended to run for 15 years, from 1 January 2027, and was officially estimated at €750 million excluding VAT over its lifetime. The City launched the concession process under Belgian and European procurement rules because its estimated value was well above the European publication threshold.

Napoleon Games was due to replace Viage, which has operated the Brussels casino since 2010.

The decision represented a major change for the Belgian casino landscape. ECK is already active in land-based gambling through the casino in Knokke-Heist and operates Napoleon Games, while Viage has built the Brussels venue into a large casino, hospitality and entertainment complex in the city centre.

But the change of operator never became definitive.

Casinos Austria International Belgium, the company behind Viage, finished behind ECK and challenged the City's decision before the Council of State.

On 31 August 2026, the Council of State suspended the award.

The administrative court found several problems with the City's evaluation process. According to the Council of State, the reasoning did not make it sufficiently possible to verify whether all elements announced in the tender specifications had been properly taken into account. It also found that certain factors used in the assessment appeared unrelated to the concession itself.

The court additionally identified an apparent problem in the way certain partnerships presented by ECK had been assessed. Some elements treated during the evaluation as partnerships or commitments appeared instead to be based on recommendation letters from organisations, including sports clubs.

A separate issue concerned compliance with the EU rules on foreign subsidies potentially distorting the internal market. The Council of State found that the obligations arising from that European framework had not been respected during the concession procedure.

The suspension did not automatically award the concession to Viage. It instead forced the City of Brussels to reconsider how the procedure should continue.

The latest development goes beyond the administrative dispute over the tender.

The Brussels public prosecutor confirmed on 28 September that an anonymous complaint had been received and that it resulted in the opening of a judicial investigation for possible unlawful taking of interest against X, meaning that no named suspect has been publicly designated.

Federal police are now expected to conduct further checks.

That distinction is essential.

The Council of State proceedings concern the legality and reasoning of the concession-award procedure. The new prosecutorial investigation concerns allegations potentially falling under criminal law.

At this stage, the public information does not establish that any crime was committed, nor does it identify who may ultimately be concerned by the investigation.

Before the criminal investigation was announced, Brussels Mayor Philippe Close had already faced political questions over his role as an independent, unpaid board member of RSC Anderlecht.

Napoleon Games is a commercial partner of Anderlecht, and opposition councillors questioned whether that relationship created a potential conflict of interest in the concession procedure.

Close has rejected that interpretation. He said there was no conflict of interest and pointed out that the Council of State did not base its suspension decision on that issue.

Reporting by BRUZZ, citing L'Echo, said ECK's proposal included €3.8 million over 15 years for a football-based social programme connected to young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. BRUZZ also reported that the prosecutor had previously treated the questions surrounding Close as potentially deontological rather than necessarily criminal. The prosecutor has not publicly confirmed that the new anonymous complaint concerns Close.

It would therefore be incorrect to present the current judicial investigation as an investigation into the Brussels mayor personally.

The controversy surrounding the tender is broader than the political questions about Anderlecht.

One of the issues reported after the Council of State ruling involved ECK's promise to move its online-gaming servers and headquarters to Brussels.

Those commitments could potentially bring additional economic and tax activity to the capital. However, BRUZZ reported that the relocation of the servers had influenced the evaluation despite not appearing as a formal criterion in the tender specifications.

That goes to the heart of the Council of State's criticism: public tenders must be assessed according to the criteria that were announced in advance.

A commercially attractive proposal cannot simply receive additional credit for elements that were not properly included in the evaluation framework.

After the suspension, the City of Brussels was left with several possible paths.

It could reassess the admissible bids and provide a new, legally robust motivation; reconsider parts of the procedure; or explore other solutions capable of ensuring continuity after the end of the current concession.

As of 22 September, Brussels alderwoman Nawal Ben Hamou said the City was not ruling out any option.

The difficulty is that this is not a tender the City can afford to leave unresolved for months.

The current concession ends on 31 December.

And because operating a casino in Belgium requires the necessary regulatory approvals in addition to the municipal concession, a last-minute solution becomes increasingly complicated as the deadline approaches.

One apparent solution would be to let Viage remain temporarily while the City resolves the tender dispute.

Viage has, however, rejected the idea of simply continuing on the basis of an extension of the existing concession.

In a letter reported by Belgian media, Viage CEO Pierre Stuyck argued that extending the current arrangement would not address the issues identified by the Council of State. Viage instead called for all admissible offers to be reassessed in an objective, transparent and non-discriminatory way.

That position creates additional pressure on the City.

Without a legally valid new award or another agreement with the current operator, Brussels risks reaching 1 January 2027 without a clear operator for the casino.

The legal battle is no longer only a dispute between gambling companies and the City.

It directly affects 286 Viage employees.

Casino workers demonstrated in September to demand clarity over what will happen after 31 December. The workforce includes croupiers, reception staff, hospitality employees, security workers and other support functions, representing close to 40 nationalities.

The wider economic impact could also extend beyond those direct jobs.

Viage has said it works with hundreds of suppliers, including a large number of Brussels-based businesses. Some partners have already put future plans on hold because they do not know whether the venue will continue operating after the end of the year.

The concession therefore concerns much more than the casino floor.

The stakes are also significant for the City itself.

The concession was officially valued at €750 million over 15 years, while reporting on the tender indicated that it could generate more than €10 million per year for the City through concession payments.

The Brussels casino is also a major city-centre entertainment venue. Viage currently operates casino games alongside restaurants, bars and events at its Boulevard Anspach location.

Any interruption from January would therefore have financial, employment and operational consequences beyond the narrow question of which gambling group holds the licence.

One point can easily become confused in the current situation.

The Council of State's ruling does not mean that Viage has won the new concession.

It means that the decision awarding it to ECK cannot currently stand on the basis on which it was taken.

That leaves the City responsible for finding a legally defensible way forward.

ECK could still remain part of a future outcome if the tender is reassessed and a new decision is reached in accordance with the applicable rules. Viage could also emerge from a reassessment in a stronger position.

At present, neither outcome is certain.

What makes the Brussels casino case particularly complicated is that several separate issues are now unfolding at the same time.

There is the administrative dispute over how the concession bids were scored and justified.

There is the political and ethical debate around relationships between public officials, football and companies connected to the tender.

And there is now the judicial investigation, opened after an anonymous complaint and currently directed against unknown persons.

Those issues may overlap factually, but they should not be treated as identical.

The Council of State has made findings about the concession procedure. Political opponents have raised questions about possible conflicts of interest. Prosecutors are now carrying out checks following a complaint.

None of those facts, on its own, establishes criminal wrongdoing by any named individual.

Legal disputes surrounding large public concessions are not unusual.

What makes the Brussels casino case exceptional is the deadline.

Viage's current concession expires on 31 December 2026. The next concession was designed to start the following morning and continue until 2042.

The City therefore has only a short period to reconcile several competing priorities: comply with the Council of State ruling, handle the concession procedure fairly, preserve the continuity of the casino if possible and address the concerns of 286 employees.

All of that must now take place while a separate judicial investigation is under way.

Only a few months ago, the future of the Brussels casino appeared settled.

ECK and Napoleon Games had won a 15-year concession and were preparing to replace Viage from 1 January 2027.

That certainty has disappeared.

The Council of State has suspended the award after identifying shortcomings in the evaluation process. Viage has rejected a straightforward extension of its existing concession. Hundreds of jobs remain exposed to the uncertainty. And prosecutors have now opened an investigation following an anonymous complaint.

For the City of Brussels, the immediate challenge is no longer simply deciding whether Napoleon Games or Viage should run the casino.

It is finding a solution that can survive legal scrutiny, preserve operational continuity and provide clarity before the current concession expires at midnight on 31 December.