Ajax Amsterdam cancels championship celebration for women's team – due to unsuccessful men

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At the beginning of May, Ajax celebrated the championship at the game in Zwolle – but there will be no champagne and fans in the city centre

Photo: Raymond Smit / DeFodi Images / Getty Images

Actually, there was supposed to be a championship celebration for the women's soccer team of the Dutch top soccer club Ajax Amsterdam next week. Amsterdam's mayor Femke Halsema had invited the Ajax women to a reception in front of fans on Monday at the Leidschenplein in the center of the capital, where the men's celebrations had taken place for years.

However, in view of the men's team's mixed season, the club's management has refused to publicly honour its wives after the city won the championship.

It is not the moment for such a celebration at the moment, said the Ajax management around the former national goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the daily newspaper "Het Parool". The Ajax management had asked the city administration to renounce the honor, said a spokesman for the city.

An Ajax spokesman spoke of a lack of festive atmosphere in the club. In addition, there are fears of low fan interest, as the women's team had already won the title at the beginning of May, one point ahead of FC Twente.

The men missed out on the championship by a wide margin, with disappointing defending champions Ajax in third place in the Eredivisie, 13 points behind leaders Feyenoord Rotterdam and three points behind second-placed PSV Eindhoven.

For the Ajax women, it would have been the first public honor for the third league title ever. In the social networks, many express their incomprehension of the cancellation and see it as a step backwards for equality in football. And the criticism didn't just come from fans.

"With friends like that, you don't need enemies. Very disappointed with what should feel like 'my' club...", wrote Dutch international Merel van Dongen on Twitter. Van Dongen had played for Ajax in the past and is currently under contract with Atlético Madrid. She has played 60 international matches for the Netherlands so far.

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