Club legend Cruyff had publicly clashed with Ajax’s four other commissioners, Edgar Davids, Steven ten Have, Paul Romer and Marjan Olfers, after they named former coach Louis van Gaal, Danny Blind and Martin Sturkenboom as directors without his knowledge. Cruyff this week challenged the club’s members to pick a side and stated he would take legal action against his other four commissioners. However, the 24-man members’ council has elected to appoint a new board.
“This board could not continue and therefore we made this choice,” said members’ council chairman Rob Been Jr., according to Reuters. “Now we choose an interim board of three members, who will vote for the club at the shareholders meeting on December 12 and after that we will form a council of members, who will appoint a new board of commissioners. But none of the five members of the recent board will return as a commissioner in the new board.”
Cruyff has long endured a difficult relationship with Van Gaal, who coached Ajax to their last UEFA Champions League title in 1995. However, he has maintained this is not the cause of the rift. “People who say it's about power know nothing,” Cruyff had told newspaper De Telegraaf. “My generation should step into the background and make room for a new and ambitious group of people that will take Ajax back to the summit. It should not be that people like myself or Van Gaal take the reins.”