Dutch football association sends Ajax CEO's insider trading case to licensing commission

Ajax CEO and Board Chair Alex Kroes broke KNVB rules by purchasing shares in the Amsterdam football club while still working for AZ Alkmaar, another top tier club. The football association confirmed a report published in the Volkskrant, and said they will bring the case to the licensing commission.

The supervisory board at Ajax suspended Kroes on Tuesday, just three weeks after he started his job as the Amsterdam club's CEO. The board accused Kroes of trading stock with undisclosed information, which is punishable by law. Shortly before it was announced that he would be joining Ajax from AZ, he purchased 17,000 shares in the club, worth around 190,000 euros at the time. In doing so, he may have violated both Dutch law, and KNVB rules and regulations.

"To the question asked by the Volkskrant concerning whether somebody who is a director at Club A can have shares in Club B, our answer is that this is not allowed based on quality requirements from the guideline directives on independence and continuity of a license holder," the KNVB reported. "The case will be brought to the licensing commission for professional football. That commission supervises the licensing regulations."

The KNVB tries to guarantee the integrity and continuity of the football leagues with the licensing system. The licensing commission is mainly focused on the financial situation of the clubs.

This is why they recently stopped a takeover of Vitesse Arnhem by business people from the United States, and have forced clubs in the past to come up with a plan to help with high debt levels. A points deduction is a possibility in these cases.

A spokesperson explained that it is too early in the Kroes case to say anything about the possible conclusions the licensing commission could draw. AZ, the club where Kroes is alleged to have violated KNVB rules, has been asked to provide clarification, according to the Volkskrant. A spokesperson for the club said they have not yet received any questions regarding the matter.

Ajax manager John van 't Schip told the official Ajax club's media channel that he doesn't feel like his appointment has led to things calming down at the club. The former Ajax player was brought in to replace Maurice Steijn and was meant to restore calm at the men's team, which has been going through a turbulent time for years.

"It has not gotten any calmer since I came in," Van 't Schip said. "I hoped the club could create a calm situation, but it wasn't there when Kroes started the job either. Of course, people will respond to this, but it creates a lot of unrest."

He added that the unrest has had a detrimental effect on the players. "We have to get results in this situation for a whole season with a young group of players. I must say they are doing very well; people forget what something like this does to a group."

The players were informed about the Kroes situation on Tuesday night by football director Marijn Breuker. "Everybody reads something or hears it in their private lives. The pressure is then increased, which they can do nothing about."

Van 't Schip described the player's reactions. "Not again, they thought, and they couldn't believe this had happened." Van 't Schip was referring to former Ajax director Marc Overmars, who was forced to resign from his post in February 2022 for allegations of sexual harassment.

"But we had to move on quickly as we have a big game coming up." Ajax face Go Ahead Eagles in the Johan Cruijff ArenA on Thursday night. Van 't Schip's side is currently fifth in the Eredivisie.