General director Arie van Eijden to step down
07 April: Ajax have confirmed today what
was claimed by two prominent Dutch sports
journalists last week: general director Arie van Eijden
will step down as soon as a successor has been
found. Ajax's Board of Commissioners expects that this
will be the case before the end of 2005. Van Eijden will
officially retire on April 1st 2006 at the latest.
The news of Van Eijden's imminent departure was
first announced by sports journalist Barbara Barend, host
of the weekly Ajax talkshow on AT5 Television, FC
Godenzonen.
Van Eijden, speaking at New
Year's press conference at the ArenA. [Photo:
Ajax.nl]
Van Eijden is heavily criticized this season
by press and supporters, who feel that he is at least
partly repsonsible for the current crisis within the
club: two head-coaches (Co Adriaanse and Ronald Koeman)
disappeared in an unpleasant way, Louis van Gaal's brief spell
as technical director did not have a happy ending and the sale
of Zlatan Ibrahimovic hours before the closing of the transfer
window outraged the fans. After the technical director
and the head-coach had disappeared, many felt that Van
Eijden himself should also step down.
Van Eijden's position was discussed during the
General Meeting of the Ajax membership in late March. The Dutch
press reported that Van Eijden had 'survived' the meeting and
chairman John Jaakke announced that Van Eijden was unanimously
deemed 'not guilty'. Shortly thereafter, however, Barbara
Barend, claimed on AT5 television that several prominent
Ajax members and official had urged Van Eijden to
step down 'in Ajax's best interest'. Another prominent football
journalist, Johan Derksen, editor-in-chief of Voetbal
International magazine and a co-host of football talkshow
Voetbal Insite on RTL5 television, claimed the same
thing. Both journalists claimed to have heard this from
'reliable sources' within the club.
Meanwhile, Van Eijden's popularity amongst the fans did
not exactly increase when a business website named
Bestuursvoorzitter.nl published his salary, which
apparently had gone up from 388,000 euros in 2003 to
688,000 euros in 2004. Ajax released on official
statement to Van Eijden's defense: the increase
was largely due to overdue pension
contributions. Nevertheless, the increase
of Van Eijden's income was, according to many
supporters, out of line with Ajax's sportive developments
in the same period.
The claim of Barend and Derksen that Van Eijden would retire
as soon as a successor had been found was confirmed by chairman
John Jaakke on NOS Teletekst, but (remarkably) strongly denied
by financial director Jeroen Slop. Today, however, Ajax.nl
published an official statement to confirm the news, although
the club deny that Van Eijden's imminent retirement has
anything to do with the current situation. According to the
press release the Board of Commissioners and Van Eijden
have been discussing the future structure
of Ajax's Board of Directors in general, and Van
Eijden's succession in particular, since the end of 2004. April
of 2006 would have been an 'evaluation moment' for Van Eijden
anyway, the club claims. In the press release Ajax also
announce that Van Eijden will continue to work for Ajax
on a 'project basis' in the future.
Van Eijden was arrested for
interrogation in December 1988. [Photo: Jan Mud/Ajax
Magazine]
Arie van Eijden (born Amsterdam, 05 April 1946) played two
league games for Ajax's first team in the 1965-1966
season, but was of more significance as an official for
the club: first as commissioner of Ajax's amateur section
(1977-1979), then as board member of general affairs and
vice-chairman (1979-1986) and from 1986 to 1995 as
general director and commercial director.
In 1995 Van Eijden was expelled as a member of AFC Ajax due
to his alleged involvement in the famous 'FIOD affair'
(1988-1990), when Ajax were found guilty by the Dutch
Fiscal Investigation Service (FIOD) of financial irregularities
in a number of player transfer in the mid-1980s. Van Eijden
moved to the Dutch football association (KNVB) in 1997 to
serve as director of professional football marketing and,
subsequently, director of the professional football
section of the KNVB. After his complete rehabilitation by Ajax
he re-joined the club as a member and (as per 01 October 2000)
as general director. Painfully enough, he was soon
confronted with a FIOD
investigation similar to the one in the late
1980s.
Van Eijden was initially praised and deemed a key
figure in Ajax's return to European glory in 2002-2003. Former
Ajax players were contracted on many key positions within
the club and Van Eijden was praised for giving Ajax
its 'club feel' back after a number of years in which
fans and press criticized the club for having become too much
of a 'company'.
The announcement that Arie van Eijden will step down
underscores that Ajax is currently in the middle of a
managerial crisis: the Amsterdam club are looking for a new
general director (to replace Van Eijden), technical director
(to replace Louis van Gaal) and director of youth
system (to replace Danny Blind, now head-coach), plus a new
coach for the A1 youth team and - according to persistent
rumours - a new head for the scouting
department: according to reports in the media Ajax's
current head of scouting, Ton Pronk, will also call it quits
this season. (MP)
Sources: AT5 Text, NOS Teletekst, VI.nl,
Ajax.nl
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