Belgium’s Gaming Commission, the Kansspelcommissie, has fired a fresh warning shot at operators ahead of the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Commission has signalled that it will aggressively police bonus offers, advertising activity and football-related sponsorship exposure during one of the industry’s busiest periods of the year.
In a strongly worded reminder to the market, the regulator told operators that the country’s strict gambling advertising and inducement rules remain fully in force and that inspectors will “strictly monitor” unauthorised practices during the tournament period.
The warning centres on Articles 60 and 61 of Belgium’s Gambling Act, which together form one of Europe’s toughest regulatory frameworks for gambling promotion.
Article 60 bans bonuses and player inducements, while Article 61 establishes a broad ban on gambling advertising except where specifically permitted under Belgium’s Royal Decree on gambling marketing.
The Commission made clear that the Belgian industry should not interpret the World Cup as justification for more aggressive marketing.
Free bets, bonus credit, cashback mechanics, loyalty incentives, retention campaigns and other promotional benefits designed to recruit or retain players remain prohibited under Belgian law.
Any advantage tied to player behaviour, targeted engagement or time-limited promotions could also fall foul of the rules.
The World Cup is expected to be a period of aggressive customer acquisition for betting companies, with operators across Europe ramping up advertising, sponsorship activation and bonus campaigns, but Belgium is now making clear that it expects no relaxation of standards during the World Cup cycle.
There has also been a social media advertising pushback in Belgium.
Engagement functions such as likes, comments and shares must be disabled where technically possible, while “calls to action” encouraging interaction are prohibited. Sponsored gambling advertising on social platforms remains effectively banned.
Belgium’s gambling ads in sports pushback
Since January 2025, gambling logos have been prohibited on the front of sports shirts in Belgium – a ban which will also come into effect in the English Premier League from the 2026/27 season.
Logo size is also tightly capped and gambling branding at sports venues has been restricted.
The regulator specifically warned that attempts to circumvent the rules through affiliated fan platforms or informational websites linked to betting operators may still class as gambling advertising under Article 61.
Belgium’s warning comes amid growing political and regulatory pressure across Europe to reduce gambling visibility in sports, particularly around football.
The Netherlands’ gambling authority, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), issued a similar warning this week for its home operators.
That authority has been particularly stringent on its operators in recent times, with fines and warnings for breaching marketing regulations becoming fairly commonplace.
As explained throughout, Belgium is another jurisdiction in which gambling businesses have to be particularly careful in toeing the line of its regulator.
There has been progress from a player protection perspective, with a recent Sciensano study finding that only 2.6% of Belgian players currently display risky gambling behaviour, while 0.6% are considered at high risk of problematic gambling activity.
The Commission’s warning, however, may have been in part due to that same study finding that 52.2% of the Belgian population is exposed weekly to at least one form of gambling advertising.
With gambling activity set to rise globally for the World Cup, especially in a country like Belgium, where football is arguably the most popular sport, the Commission is looking to get one step ahead in terms of implementing protective measures for its players.