Brussels casino workers gathered outside the city’s Brucity administrative building this week, demanding clarity from Mayor Philippe Close about the future of their jobs after a court ruling threw the venue’s licensing process into disarray. Roughly eighty employees and supporters protested with signs reading that employment is not a game of chance, as concern mounts that all two hundred eighty six positions at the casino could disappear when the current operating concession expires at the end of this year.
The crisis traces back to a fifteen year, seven hundred fifty million euro concession that the City of Brussels sought to award back in July, ultimately selecting Napoleon Games operator ECK from among five submitted bids. That decision quickly drew controversy, with current operator Viage, a subsidiary of Casinos Austria International, filing a formal challenge against the award. Viage’s complaint specifically raised concerns about how tender criteria had been applied and pointed to a potential conflict of interest involving Mayor Close, who serves as an independent director of Anderlecht football club, a team that counts Napoleon Games among its major sponsors.
The Belgian Council of State ultimately sided with several of Viage’s complaints, suspending the city’s decision to award the new concession to Napoleon Games on August 31. That ruling left Brussels without a clear path forward just months before Viage’s existing license expires on December 31, creating genuine uncertainty for the casino’s workforce as the deadline approaches with no resolution in sight.
Union representatives who met with Mayor Close and Tourism Alderwoman Nawal Ben Hamou following this week’s demonstration indicated the city is now weighing two possible paths forward, either restarting the entire tender procedure from scratch or attempting to proceed with the current process by providing stronger justification for its original decision. Xavier Muls, permanent secretary of the Synova union, said the meeting successfully placed workers and their future back at the center of ongoing discussions about how to resolve the situation.
Local politicians across party lines have criticized the handling of the entire process. City councillor Mourad Maimouni described the situation as unacceptable, arguing it was inadmissible to reach a point where more than three hundred families’ livelihoods hang in the balance due to what he characterized as serious administrative failures. Green party councillor Benoit Hellings similarly attributed the crisis directly to errors and missteps by the City College and Mayor Close specifically.
Fouad Ahidar, president of the TFA-BXL Plus political movement, has called for the city and the broader Brussels region to work together urgently to find a solution, arguing that ongoing debate over legal procedure and administrative responsibility should not come at the expense of two hundred eighty six workers left waiting to learn their fate. He specifically urged authorities to stop deflecting responsibility and instead focus on delivering an actual resolution for affected employees.
The casino itself represents a significant economic asset for the city, spanning fourteen thousand square meters in the city center and recording approximately three hundred ten thousand visits annually while maintaining profitability since 2019. Beyond the two hundred eighty six directly employed workers, union estimates suggest as many as six hundred jobs total could face impact when accounting for indirect employment connected to the venue’s operations.
As the December 31 deadline draws closer without a clear resolution, pressure continues mounting on Brussels city officials to determine a path forward that avoids both a damaging legal misstep and the potential loss of hundreds of jobs tied to one of the capital’s longstanding entertainment venues.
