via FIFA

Ajax technical director Danny Blind and the club’s board resigned today following the row over the blocked appointment of Louis van Gaal as general manager of the Dutch footballing giants.

Ajax legend Johan Cruyff last week won his legal battle to prevent the appointment of Van Gaal which had been made by the club’s Council of Commissioners without consulting him – although he is one of the five board members.

“I have a clear vision of Ajax’s future and Van Gaal’s arrival is part of that,” said Blind. “Now that his arrival is no longer the case I can’t and don’t want to continue.”

More on Ajax’s Technical Director/Board Resigning over Louis van Gaal’s Blocked Appointment after the Jump……

Both Van Gaal and Cruyff are former Ajax coaches and have clashed in the past. Cruyff took legal action to block his countryman’s appointment and was backed by 15 coaches from the club’s training centre.

Cruyff, 64, had restructured the club in recent years by giving more power to former plays such as Blind, Frank De Boer and Dennis Bergkamp, who are coaches, with Wim Jonk responsible for training.

“The coaches from the training centre are all former club players. I’ve always been 200 per-cent behind this project and I maintain that it’s very important for the club,” said Cruyff, who feared that Van Gaal would dismantle his work.

Van Gaal, 60, had been due to work alongside Blind and commercial director Martin Sturkenboom as part of a new leadership structure at the home of the four-time European champions. The former Bayern Munich coach managed Ajax between 1991 and 1997, notably leading them to the Champions League title in 1995, and was sporting director from 2003 to 2004.

via Guardian

via Guardian

via Guardian

via Guardian

Johan Cruyff has attempted to explain an allegedly racist comment he made towards Edgar Davids by claiming he was referring to the multicultural make-up of Ajax, the club whose supervisory board the pair sit on.

During a television interview on Sunday, Davids alluded to racist treatment during a meeting of the board and, although Davids was not specific, another board member – Steven ten Have – pointed the finger directly at Cruyff. Ten Have alleged that Cruyff said to Davids: “You are only on the supervisory board because you are black.”

Cruyff has not denied making such a statement, with the 64-year-old former Holland international instead seeking to put his remark in context. “Ajax is a multicultural club and we have found that many talented immigrant players quit when they reach puberty,” he said in his weekly Dutch newspaper column.

“So we wanted to tackle this problem with someone from the same background, who had come through it. And that was Edgar Davids. During one of our fights I pointed that out to him. But it had nothing to do with his skin colour.”

Davids has appeared keen to defuse the situation. He explained: “I never said, and I want to emphasise that, that Johan Cruyff was a racist, despite this unfortunate remark on his part. I would also like to make clear I have deep respect for the soccer player Johan Cruyff.”

Another Ajax official, Rob Been, has claimed Ten Have changed his stance in relation to Cruyff’s treatment of Davids. Been said Ten Have initially regarded Cruyff’s words as “clumsy, but nothing special in the context” before speaking out more vehemently during his own broadcast interview.

In a separate development, Dutch media outlets have reported that Ten Have has received threatening letters on account of his dispute with Cruyff. The reports add that Ten Have has hired personal security and changed his designated driver.

Ajax have not commented specifically on the affair but have admitted there is a split within the supervisory board. The appointment of Louis van Gaal as the club’s new general manager, apparently without Cruyff’s knowledge, has triggered internal discord. There are also doubts over Cruyff’s position.

An Ajax statement read: “At the meeting for members council and [the] board of Ajax, with the complete advisory board present, it was established that a breach of trust occurred between Johan Cruyff on one side, and Steven ten Have, Edgar Davids, Marjan Olfers and Paul Römer on the other. During the meeting, Cruyff confirmed that he was no longer prepared to work towards repairing this breach.”

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Jeff Lemieux caught up with retired legendary Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids who is training with the Revolution through Friday.

Amsterdam ready for the season and Ajax has taken the competitiveness of soccer to the next level by opening the season with a video that literally has the citizens of Amsterdam standing up for their team.  Ajax won the nation’s title last season, the 30th time that they have become champion of the country!

S/O to M. Middelkoop from Strangelove for the heads up -

twitter: @StrangeLove :: website: strangelove.nl

More on the video, and the people behind it after the jump….

The cinematic venture is the creation of two young creatives from Amsterdam based advertising agency Strangelove: “we wanted to present a gift to Amsterdam and Ajax and open the season in a new and creative way to get everyone pumped up. Why we did it? Because we are Ajax-fans! And we’re proud of our city.”

The video is first and foremost meant as a gift, but the creators hope that it will inspire other fans to also do something for their city or team. “It would be great if other people pick this up and also make something nice and put it out there.”

Together with production outfit Bananaz the film was put together with no budget entirely with the help of Ajax fans, a lovely crew and a host of talent from the city. Including renowned tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher. The video also gives a small tip of the hat to the recent populair Adidas campaign, the only difference being: this time the focus is not on the stars, but on the people that cheer for them.

Credits:

Agency: Strangelove :: Production: Bananaz :: Creatives: Sharif Abd el Mawla & Michael Middelkoop :: Direction: Peggy Steenvoorden :: Producers: David de Graaf, Daan Starrenburg, Faye Wilkie, Eric Vader, Nadir Soltane, Stefan Weijers, Sytse Kuilman, Sterre Sparreboom :: DOP: Tibor Dingelstad :: Music: Soulsearchin’

Other credits:
Focuspuller: Artyom Zakharenko :: 2nd D.O.P.: Max Maloney :: A.D.: Thomas Buwalda :: Gaffer: Johan Hoitink :: Sound technician: Nick Purhouse :: Artdepartment: Eva Zwart :: Styling: Zarha Moshkelgosha :: Make-up: Christel Man :: Editor: Arthur Ivens :: Grader: Joppo in de Grot :: Sounddesign: Soundware Amsterdam

SCORING SUMMARY:
AFC Ajax – Sulejmani 10′ (Lodeiro)
D.C. United – Brettschneider 58′
AFC Ajax – Anita 87′