Ajax will talk to the makers of the banner that caused a stir around the top match against PSV. Before the start, a large banner appeared on one of the stands in the Johan Cruijff ArenA, on which, through trainer Erik ten Hag, were written insulting texts towards PSV. According to The Telegraph technical director Edwin van der Sar has already apologized to competitor Toon Gerbrands and the club will speak with those responsible for the ‘atmospheric action’.
The banner caused a lot of commotion around the game. The canvas depicts two PSV players with an eggshell on their head, such as the cartoon character Calimero. ‘Brainfart Aidshoven’ can be read on the belly of their shirt instead of the usual ‘Brainport Eindhoven’ and that text in particular caused the necessary criticism. The action is said to have been set up by the atmosphere team of the Amsterdammers. Although the club has taken a look before the design would actually be rolled out, the makers seem to have not kept to the agreements.
“Ajax has seen a design and has approved it. The final version that was rolled out differed in a few points from the approved variant. This has damaged the trust on the basis of which we work with the atmosphere team. It goes without saying that we will discuss this with them, also to prevent this from happening again in any subsequent cases,” a spokesperson for Ajax said on Monday evening. The Telegraph.
Ten Hag was already asked for his opinion about the banner at the press conference on Sunday evening, and he clearly indicated that he was not happy with the action. “We don’t want to encourage this kind of action. I’m far from it. I don’t look at it in a good way.” Ten Hag believes that clubs should check the contents of banners more strictly before they are allowed. “I think every club should do that. Of course it is challenging each other a bit, and that is allowed, but there are limits somewhere,” said the elector.