Ajax football director under investigation for sketchy transfer practices

Ajax launched an investigation regarding a potential conflict of interest involving their technical director, Sven Mislintat, and a recent player acquisition facilitated by a German agency that has stakes in Mislintat's private company. This is according to an investigation by NOS published on Tuesday.

This situation arose from a transaction on June 26, 2023, where the agent agency AKA Global acquired shares in Mislintat's company Matchmetrics, a commercial data system for scouting football players. Mislintat also recently became the largest shareholder with 35 percent.

The established business relationship between AKA Global and Mislintat surfaced during the recent transfer season. AKA Global and Mislintat successfully negotiated the transfer of left-back Borna Sosa to Ajax in the final hours of the transfer window for an 8 million euros transfer fee.

Ajax confirmed to NOS that they knew about Mislintat's shares in Matchmetrics when he was appointed and had contractual agreements regarding this. However, they were unaware of the agent agency's shares in Mislintat's company until Monday.

The Amsterdam club initiated an investigation as this goes against their own corporate governance statement, which prohibits directors from making decisions where they have a conflict of interest.

"Ajax is of course looking into this further and is being assisted by external advisors. Sven is providing full cooperation, including sharing all relevant documents,” Ajax said to NOS.

This revelation will surely add to the current turmoil at the Amsterdam club, as tensions have risen between Mislintat and coach Maurice Steijn recently regarding player acquisitions this summer. Ajax also recorded its worst season start since 1965 after losing to Twente on Sunday.

The club will face two very important games this week. On Thursday, Ajax will play against Olympique Marseille in its first game of the Europa League group stage. On Sunday, it will play the Klassieker against its main rival Feyenoord.