Daley Blind was still awake just before midnight on Sunday when the news of Marc Overmars’ departure from Ajax became known, after his transgressive behavior towards women. The defender of Ajax and the Dutch national team heard it through the media, he said on Wednesday evening after the victory in the quarterfinals of the TOTO KNVB Cup against Vitesse (5-0). “I was in disbelief and didn’t know what to think.”
Overmars left because he has been guilty of undesirable behavior towards female colleagues at Ajax for a longer period of time. “We don’t know the details, but everyone at the club was depressed on Monday. There was a lot of disbelief. We talked about it for a long time,” Blind told the AP† “Fortunately, it didn’t affect our game. We have to focus on performing on the pitch.”
Erik ten Hag reacts for the first time to the news about Marc Overmars. “This is just disastrous, especially for the victims” pic.twitter.com/o63EtEqIDm
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“We want to win trophies and are still fighting on three fronts. We have a mentally strong team. That shows again.” Overmars already played football in the nineties with Danny Blind, Daley’s father. “He was often at the club and also came to watch training. He also kept in touch with players after they left Ajax. I definitely have a connection with him. Overmars was perhaps the best technical director of recent years at Ajax.”
“He did a fantastic job. But that, of course, is independent of what has happened now. I think of the women, with what happened to them. But I also know Marc well. It is difficult. There’s a lot of disbelief involved right now. I did talk to him about WhatsApp,” concluded Blind. Erik ten Hag did not know what he heard when it turned out that Overmars was going to leave Ajax because the director of football affairs has been guilty of transgressive behavior for a longer period of time. “I was totally stunned,” he said before the cup match. “This is disastrous. Especially for the victims, for the women. I have a hard time with that.”
Ten Hag wanted for the cameras of ESPN especially with the victims. “The suffering they inflicted is very bad. I have a hard time with that. Everyone processes this for themselves. I often withdraw, I am a bit quieter than usual. I have to radiate energy to my team, but in the days after the news, that’s difficult.” Ten Hag said he did not feel betrayed. “I don’t know the facts either. That’s all privacy. A good internal investigation will have to be done. Of course steps have been taken, so there must have been reason for it. Marc has drawn a conclusion for himself.”