Overmars mess runs amok

Scandal at Ajax in Amsterdam, chapter II. From the general stupefaction that emerged around midnight yesterday, when the Dutch team issued an official statement announcing the “immediate dismissal” of Marc Overmars for alleged sexual harassment of several co-workers at the club, it has been passed into total disbelief after his modus operandi was revealed.

The newspaper The Parool, based in Amsterdam, has revealed today that the former player of the team Ajax player, Arsenal or Barcelona and international Orange, accompanied those well-known cross-border messages with images of genitals. As the medium itself states, “dickpicks”, the so-called ‘fotopolla’. Another twist to the ‘Overmars case’, and in less than 24 hours. A boom unexpected whose expansive wave has shaken the soccer foundations of the country in all classes but whose fuse lit a long time ago.

The Dutch Football Federation, shocked

“As the largest sports association in the Netherlands, we are aware that power relations can unfortunately also play a role in the workplace in the world of sports. We would like to say to all victims of offending behaviour: ‘please report, no matter how difficult it is’. It can be done anonymously, with your club’s confidential contact person, the KNVB or the Center for Safe Sport,” reported the KNVB itself, the Dutch Football Federation.

Similarly, he also stressed the obligation that clubs have to inform before the appearance of this type of facts. This principle, together with selecting at least one certified confidential contact person, is a requirement that is part of the sports license of the clubs of the Eredivisie, the Dutch League, to guarantee a safe sporting climate. They also have help from specialized agencies.

Overmars could face criminal consequences

But until today, and despite the fact that the club Ajax player knew the facts long ago, Ajax did not inform the KNVB of what happened to activate the independent investigation protocol of the Sports Law Institute, to which all the major sports associations are affiliated, and which even could trigger major consequences, including criminal, for Marc Overmars. Although at the moment, as the same medium also advances, no complaint has been filed by this body against him.

It was especially painful for van der Sar, a football partner and friend and director of Overmars. The one who was one of the most prominent goalkeepers on the scene sent an email to Ajax staff on January 25 alerting them to the presence of two ‘trusted contacts’ to turn to in case of complaints about safety at work. These are the former club doctor, Piet Bon, and Margriet Berger, former teacher and former nanny of the Ajax players.

All this right after the TV show The Voice of Holland reported alleged cases of sexual harassment in the club, without giving their own names. At the moment, neither Ajax will take legal action beyond the statement; nor Overmars, who acknowledged the facts (“I am embarrassed; I did not realize that I had crossed the limits”) and apologized and respected, intends to respond to the accusation.