Ajax assistant coach also accused of transgressive behavior

A woman accused Winston Bogarde, assistant coach at Ajax, of sexually transgressive behavior towards her between August 2019 and September 2020, NRC reports. Ajax asked an external agency to investigate "sexual harassment or other undesirable behavior" by an Ajax employee and eventually ruled it a "private matter," according to the newspaper.

This case follows two weeks after the resignation of the director of football affairs, Marc Overmars. He left the Amsterdam football club after it was revealed that he sent dick pics to female colleagues, among other things. 

The external agency that investigated Bogarde at the end of 2020 concluded that he behaved "with little respect and over time in a verbally aggressive manner." In doing so, he put himself and Ajax "in a vulnerable position." According to NRC, the investigation took almost half a year and included hundreds of WhatsApp messages, videos, and photos. The agency gave its report to Ajax in May 2021.

Based on this report, Ajax concluded that the matter between Bogarde and the woman was a private matter. "It was also established that no further actions were necessary from Ajax as an employer," the club said in a statement on Monday. "Ajax believes that it ensured careful follow-up from the first report." In the statement, Ajax speaks of "allegedly transgressive behavior of an Ajax employee," not mentioning Bogarde by name.

According to NRC, the woman who reported Bogarde does not work at Ajax but did come into contact with him because of his position. She also anonymously reported Bogarde to Dutch football association KNVB, sports umbrella organization NOC*NSF, and the Institute for Sports Law (ISR). After a preliminary investigation, the ISR dropped the complaint saying there was no connection between the report and the sport. The woman appealed in vain.