Sjoerd Mossou praises the way in which Erik ten Hag spoke on Wednesday evening prior to the TOTO KNVB Cup match between Ajax and Vitesse (5-0) about the departure of Marc Overmars as director of football affairs, after his cross-border behavior towards female colleagues. “Ten Hag, by nature not a great media talent, managed to strike just the right tone. The trainer emphatically first put the pain on the victims, showed himself to be human, upset, honest and vulnerable,” sums up the journalist of the General Newspaper on in his column.
Mossou nevertheless believes that Ajax ‘falls again short’ in the field of crisis communication, ‘also in the most far-reaching case in many years’. General director Edwin van der Sar spoke to the business club in a private circle on Wednesday evening about the thorny issue. “But for the umpteenth time the top boss of Ajax ducked away when it became too difficult for him in public.” He points out that Ten Hag was also ‘the forward pawn’ in the Quincy Promes case, accused of a serious stabbing incident, and that the club did not give any response to the news about the alleged crypto scam in which Overmars had previously been involved. served as ambassador.
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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“And when Ajax had four infected players fly back from Portugal at the beginning of this year, contrary to the corona protocol? The Amsterdam club refused any response or statement – and after a week and a half remained silent, trainer Ten Hag showed up as spokesperson, in that case with much less result. The fact that the Ajax club management is walking on eggshells from a legal point of view in the matter of Overmars cannot be an excuse,” emphasizes Mossou. “The sensitive key question is still whether Van der Sar had known about Overmars’ misconduct for some time – and to what extent exactly.”
According to the NRC and the General Newspaper Overmars’ cross-border behavior had been known to Ajax for much longer, based on inquiries from (former) employees of the club. According to these persons, the behavior of Overmars cannot have escaped the notice of the rest of the club management. Earlier this week, Van der Sar firmly denied that he knew about it. Mossou understands why the former goalkeeper is kept away from the cameras and microphones in a crisis situation. “He is not good at it,” says the journalist. “Van der Sar does not feel comfortable with it, and Ajax, as a listed company, does not want to take communicative risks, possibly afraid of slipping.”
“But the Overmars case is simply too important from a moral and social point of view to hide. Also for the tarnished image of Ajax, the largest club in the Netherlands.” Mossou emphasizes that sponsors openly doubt their cooperation with Ajax and that supporters are ashamed of the fact that this could have happened in the workplace of their favorite club. “In that light, as chief executive you cannot limit yourself to a brief statement in a press release, instead of standing in front of the troops. Certainly not in a publicity world like that of football. Ajax needs leadership, especially now, especially moral leadership. If Van der Sar cannot or will not offer that, the question is whether there is still a future for him in Amsterdam.”
Johan Derksen was just not impressed by Ten Hag’s conversation, who emphasized the ‘victims’: the employees who were confronted with Overmars’ transgressive behavior. According to Derksen, their suffering is nothing compared to that of the Overmars family. “Everyone has been brainwashed,” he said during the broadcast of VI Today about the trainer’s statements. “He hastens to say that the situation for the women is the worst. I don’t think so.”
“It is the worst for the wife and children of Marc Overmars. That’s what I think is the worst. I think how they have to go through life ten times worse than a woman who gets a dick pic on her phone call.” Derksen has no pity for Overmars himself. “If he did it, I don’t mind for Overmars. But for his family it is.”