Following a court ruling against the Tops stable, there is a statement

On January 7, the Eindhoven Dagblad reported that the competent district court had handed down a judgment in a case that could have unpleasant consequences for entrepreneur Jan Tops, the creator of the Global Champions Tour and League. The headline of the article reads:

“Judge drops bomb under Tops horse arena: Permission ‘suddenly’ lacking for important stables, events and hotel”

The Dutch online portal horses.nl later picked up on the news. The ruling was based on a legal dispute between Jan Tops’ company and the “Groen en Heem” nature and landscape organization. This organization has been trying to prevent the further expansion of the “Tops International” showgrounds for years. The district court responsible for East Brabant has now ruled that Tops does not have permission to hold tournaments and events in their current form.

In addition, Tops had appealed against a ruling that denied him permission to build a hotel on nature conservation grounds. The appeal was rejected, according to reports.

Statement tops

That does indeed sound like a problem for Jan Tops and his company. However, when asked, they played it down. In response to our question as to how the situation would now be dealt with, we received the following statement:

The media coverage of the judgments of the East Brabant District Court in December 2025 concerning Stal Tops B.V. has led to confusion regarding the future of events in the Tops International Arena.

Tops International Arena confirms that all events will take place as planned and preparations will continue as usual.

The rulings have no impact on the existing Tops International Arena or Stal Tops venue. The nitrogen crisis rulings primarily concern future investment plans for an adjacent property. These plans serve to implement the municipal policy for boulevards and horse zones.

We look forward to welcoming riders, teams, partners and spectators to Tops International Arena throughout the season, delivering world-class sport, supporting athletes and horses and making a positive contribution to the local community and economy.

Stal Tops B.V. has now also published this statement on its social networks.

UPDATE: Approval is provisional

As the statements in the local press and the statement by Stall Tops contradict each other to some extent, we asked the responsible court for the original judgments. They are now publicly available.

The texts of the judgement show that the court actually ruled in favour of the plaintiffs – i.e. the nature conservation organization – and found that the respective permit for the Tops barn was issued incorrectly. The municipality was obliged to decide on this again.

Nevertheless, the press release from Stall Tops is also correct, because as long as no decision has been made by the municipality, Stall Tops has been permitted to hold events by way of a temporary injunction as long as certain conditions are met. For example, a maximum of 15 show days may be held between July and September in 2026.

It is also true that Stall Tops lost the appeal proceedings due to the non-granting of planning permission for a hotel.