Classic cancelled, sports director dismissed, defeated in the competition: record champion Ajax is in a mega crisis

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Chaot fans cause the next scandal in the Netherlands. On Sunday afternoon, Ajax fans forced the classic against Feyenoord Rotterdam to be abandoned. They repeatedly threw fireworks on the field until referee Serdar Gözübüyük (37) finally stopped the match in the 55th minute when the score was 0:3.

One person who is terribly angry about the ongoing riots is Holland legend Marco van Basten (58). As a guest on the sports channel Ziggo Sport, the former striker mutters: “Do I have the solution? No, I do not have that. Actually you should say: No more professional football in the Netherlands!”

He is sure there are fans who just want to disrupt football. “If we can’t behave normally in the stadiums, maybe we should just stop.”

He especially criticizes politics: “They are not prepared to really intervene.” The logical solution for him is personalized cards like those in England. But in the Netherlands this does not seem possible: ‘Everyone thinks it is too much effort for politicians and the police.’

No Champions League

The canceled match between Ajax and Feyenoord symbolizes the mega crisis in which the Dutch record champions currently find themselves. In the current season, they are in fourteenth place with five points from four games (the fifth was against Feyenoord), which means they are already ten points behind leader PSV Eindhoven, which has won all games so far.

But the misery goes back to last season. For the first time since 2019, the capital club did not become champion and for the first time since 2018 it missed the Champions League. In the 2018/19 season, the Dutch reached the semi-finals of the premier league and failed dramatically in the second leg against Tottenham. Nothing is left of this splendor. Really nothing, because none of the heroes from back then are still in the team.

Sports director fired – will more layoffs follow?

Meanwhile, sports director Sven Mislintat (50), who only took over the position in mid-May and spent 109 million euros on new players this summer, has been thrown out. However, his dismissal may have nothing to do with the sports crisis. The investigations against Mislintat due to a conflict of interest surrounding the transfer of Borna Sosa (25) may also have played a role (see box).

More layoffs could follow. “Algemeen Dagbald” reports that head coach Maurice Steijn (49, hired by Mislintat) and other board members are also concerned about their jobs.

And what happens next after the canceled match against Feyenoord? One thing is certain in the Netherlands: the logical result is a 3-0 victory for the Rotterdam team. Experts consider a repeat of the game to be “unrealistic”. Feyenoord also maintains that the match will be scored 3-0. (ch)

Source : Blick