Van Gaal’s Ajax Appointment Postponed by Court

The appointment of Louis van Gaal as general director of Ajax has been put on ice pending approval by a special shareholders’ meeting, a court in Haarlem, Netherlands said on Monday.

Former international Johan Cruijff and 10 of the Amsterdam club’s youth trainers had gone to court in an effort to have the appointment overturned.

Cruijff, one of five members of the club’s supervisory board, was furious he had been sidelined in the decision to bring back Van Gaal. The move was made by the four other supervisory board members without Cruijff’s knowledge. The two men have a history of not getting on.

The court said the appointment of Danny Blind as technical director is in line with the law but the naming of Van Gaal and Martin Sturkenboom as interim director should be suspended pending shareholder approval.

Cruijff described the verdict as ‘fantastic’. “We are going to play football again. Football has beaten the business.”

Ajax shareholders are holding a meeting on Monday afternoon but no vote will be taken then.