Retiring technical director Alex Kroes of Ajax started his presentation at the shareholders’ meeting on Friday afternoon with quotes from the media. “Not as an excuse,” he said. “But to offer perspective.” The statements, without citing the source, came from three consecutive autumns and showed “concerns about relegation” in 2023. Then, in 2024, “Ajax will be back again” under coach Francesco Farioli, who left last summer. Recent statements that Kroes had collected were “laughable” and “Ajax is heading for a dark time.”
For example, Kroes, technical director for more than a year and a half, wanted to make it clear in a room in the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam that things can change. According to Kroes, the current fourth place and hopeless defeats in the Champions League are a “hiccup on a sporting level” in a “bumpy process of restructuring and performance”. He interpreted his legacy as sustainable and future-oriented work. The liabilities have decreased from almost 500 million to just over 300 million euros, and according to him the salary management is healthier than when he joined.
That’s also what it says. Kroes has made his position available after dismissing trainer John Heitinga and his assistant Marcel Keizer earlier this month after four months. At the request of the supervisory board, Kroes will remain in office until a successor is found.
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Kroes tried to sketch upward lines beyond the daily rates of the first men’s team. But the call from many levels, supporters first, to tackle the organization again appears to have been heard by the supervisory board, which announced an investigation into the management structure in which the stock exchange listing of Ajax NV will also be examined. “The football company must be more effective,” said Dirk Anbeek, deputy chairman of the supervisory board.
A quarter of a century ago, that stock exchange listing offered the capital that drives Ajax, but in difficult times it is just as easy to portray it as the source of all evil. The stock exchange listing has indeed resulted in an abundance of hierarchical structures within the club, with the Ajax association as the majority shareholder and its board of directors ultimately holding the power.
This stock exchange listing also comes with a series of obligations. One of these is that from 2022 at least 33 percent of supervisory directors must be women. Dirk Anbeek chaired the meeting because Carolien Gehrels left earlier this fall after six months at the helm. Hermine Voûte had also left within a year, leaving the supervisory board with three men. Two more female commissioners must now be recruited to bring the council back to its previous strength.
General manager Menno Geelen spoke of a “painful and difficult decision” to dismiss the trainer. Geelen, who rose to the position of commercial director due to his success, was one of the few who received compliments from the audience as “the only stable factor”. Geelen: “Thank you, it is appreciated.”
The management has determined that it must act more thoughtfully to prevent a failed appointment such as Heitinga’s. Geelen wants a new technical director to be appointed first before Ajax contracts a new trainer. This should create a tandem like in the better years of, say, coach Erik ten Hag and technical director Marc Overmars. For the time being, interim Fred Grim will remain coach of the first team.
The outgoing Kroes was appointed on a titular basis after he missed out on the general directorship in 2023 due to an insider trading issue. His successor will again be statutory director, which gives him more powers and responsibilities. It was the same with Overmars, the last successful technical director who, before ruining his reputation through transgressive behavior, said at the height of his success: “It’s good that there is one boss.”
Palace of Mirrors
Ajax is now a mirror of responsibilities. With Louis van Gaal (adviser), Danny Blind (retiring commissioner), director of football affairs Marijn Beuker (including youth training and scouting) and the head coach, the voices are numerous. After the latter’s dismissal, the finger-pointing about the poor state of the selection that remains behind has erupted in full force. Rob Jansen, Heitinga’s agent, called Blind “a tumor” at Ajax because of alleged manipulative behavior.
Blind, former national coach and captain of the last Ajax team that won the Champions League, called this “lies” at Ziggo on Thursday. Blind is on his way out as technical affairs commissioner, but is still a sitting supervisory board member. He was missing from the shareholders’ meeting.
Anbeek kicked off with an “urgent appeal to address each other somewhat normally. On content, less on person.” He also appealed to journalists, who must be “critical” about sources on which they base publications and “to consider other interests that sources have in disseminating information.” He noted a lot of “erroneous reporting”, including about Heitinga’s appointment and dismissal.
The Association of Securities Owners did not approve the policy pursued, because the checks and balances were allegedly not in order. Although VEB spokesperson André Jorna attributed this to the legacy of previous years, Anbeek nevertheless found it “inappropriate”. But “that’s your opinion.” More than 99 percent of the shares represented did grant this discharge.
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