By David Gold
February 7 – Louis van Gaal (pictured) cannot be named as a director at Dutch champions Ajax, a court in Amsterdam has ruled, following a dispute between members of the club’s Supervisory Board over his appointment last November.
Van Gaal was appointed to the role by four members of the club’s advisory board – Edgar Davids, Steven ten Have, Paul Römer and Marjan Olfers – but not by the fifth, Ajax legend Johan Cruyff.
Cruyff and Van Gaal, who were at Ajax together during the team’s golden era in the 1970s, have a long running dispute.
Today’s court ruling was made on the basis that the appointment of Van Gaal, a former Ajax coach, was not on the agenda of the meeting where the decision was made in Cruyff’s absence.
“By keeping Johan Cruyff deliberately outside of the decision making process on the appointments of Van Gaal and [Martin] Sturkenboom, the other board members have acted in an unacceptable manner,” the website of the district court said.
The dispute between the supervisory board has split the club, with many fans loyal to Cruyff, one of the world’s greatest players and figurehead of the team that won three European Cups in the 1970s.
In a bid to bring back those glory days Cruyff has sought to appoint some of their former players to key positions, such as current coach Frank de Boer.
Dennis Bergkamp, Wim Jonk and Jaap Stam are among those former players who have taken up positions with the youth team, but his plans have met with opposition from his fellow Board members.
The future of the entire Supervisory Board is due to be be discussed at a meeting of the club’s shareholders, which is largely made up of supporters, on Friday (February 10).
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