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Only succeeded Edwin van der Sar in March: Alex Kroes

Photo: Peter Lous / BSR Agency / IMAGO

Ajax Amsterdam's supervisory board has suspended Alex Kroes, the football club's CEO and chairman, with immediate effect. As the Dutch club announced, the collaboration with Kroes is to be permanently ended because he is said to have engaged in insider trading. Kroes only started working at Ajax on March 15th.

Kroes had apparently bought more than 17,000 Ajax shares shortly before the club made his appointment public. "The timing of his share purchase indicates insider trading," said Amsterdam's supervisory board chairman Michael van Praag. Such a violation of the law cannot be tolerated by a listed company. "After careful consideration, the supervisory board has therefore come to the conclusion that Alex's position as director of Ajax is untenable," van Praag continued.

Kroes confirmed the share purchase on LinkedIn, but “couldn’t simply accept” the decision. Ajax was already aware of the acquisition of its share package “at the time my appointment was finally determined in August 2023,” writes Kroes there. “I thought it would be a positive sign to show trust in the club and the shareholders,” continued Kroes, who said he had previously owned shares in Ajax.

As director of international strategies, Kroes worked at Dutch first division club AZ Alkmaar until September 2023. In his youth he played for Ajax.

Last August, Ajax announced that Kroes would succeed club legend Edwin van der Sar. Van der Sar, a former goalkeeper for Ajax and the Dutch national team, resigned in May.

The sports director and coach have already had to leave

With Kroes, Ajax intended to build on successful times again. After a catastrophic start to the season, the club was temporarily in a relegation battle, and the Dutch record champions were eliminated from the cup by a fourth division team. Ajax are now fifth in the Erevidisie, 28 points behind league leaders PSV Eindhoven.

It is not the first time this season that Ajax has prematurely ended its collaboration with a person in charge. In September, the club parted ways with German sporting director Sven Mislintat. The decision was based on sporting reasons, but Mislintant was also accused of a conflict of interest in a player transfer.

Coach Maurice Steijn also had to leave last October. John van 't Schip is currently on the sidelines.

mlb/AP