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Johan Cruyff asks court to block appointment of Van Gaal at Ajax

Neither time nor a bitter legal row with his former club, it seems, can dim the legend of Johan Cruyff. A pack of cameramen and fans gathered outside the courthouse in Haarlem on Wednesday as word spread that the former World Cup star was appearing in person to seek an injunction against Ajax.

Cruyff, a member of the club’s five-man supervisory board, wants the court to block the appointment of three people to the technical staff on the basis that the decision was taken behind his back and goes against the club’s technical policy.

The appointment of former head coach Louis van Gaal, who left the club in 2004 following a dispute over his technical direction, as general director is a particularly bitter pill for Cruyff to swallow.

The former World Cup star says he was not invited to the supervisory board meeting on November 16 at which Van Gaal, former captain Danny Blind and Martin Sturkenboom were chosen. He claims the club broke the rules of corporate governance by excluding him.

The club argues that Cruyff had the chance to object to the appointments at another meeting on November 25, but failed to attend. One of the reasons he was late learning of the decision was because he has no personal email address, the club adds.

Lawyers for the three men also criticised Cruyff’s plan for the technical development of football at the club, claiming it had not been approved and was incomplete.

They also said that personal animosity was a large factor driving the split in the Ajax board, observing: “it is no secret that Van Gaal harbours a grudge towards Cruyff.”

The appointment of the three men is on the agenda for the next supervisory board meeting on Tuesday, December 12. A judge in Haarlem will decide on Monday whether to grant Cruyff an injunction which would block the move.

Cruyff, who played for Ajax during the club’s heyday in the early 1970s, when it won three European Cups in a row, has become an increasingly controversial figure during his time on the supervisory board.

Last month he was accused of racism towards another member, Edgar Davids, when he allegedly said the former captain was only on the board because he was black.

Cruyff later claimed in his newspaper column that he was making a point about the multicultural nature of Ajax and not attacking Davids for his skin colour.

Source: AT5: Kort geding Ajax: Cruijff bewust niet ingelicht over Van Gaal

Photo by Daniel Julià Lundgren