Vonk leaves Ajax, slams club CEO Efstathiou

The ex-Bafana Bafana goalkeeper’s departure comes days after head coach Andries Ulderink also tendered his resignation.

Vonk and Ulderink have released a joined statement explaining to the fans why they left the club.

In the statement, the pair accused CEO Ari Efstathiou of going against the wishes of Ajax Amsterdam, the mother club.

“On Monday‚ 3rd February 2020‚ Ari Efstathiou issued a statement about the resignation of coach Andries Ulderink and the suspension of Hans Vonk‚ the Head of Football. Hans has subsequently resigned as well‚” the statement said.

“Through this open letter to all Ajax fans‚ we would like to share our side of the story.

“In December 2018‚ we started our journey together at Ajax CT. Hans as Head of Football and Andries as head coach.

“Together‚ we had one goal: to bring Ajax CT back to the PSL. In addition to that‚ we wanted to bring back a culture fitting with Ajax CT. This is a culture that has made Ajax CT successful in the past 20 years‚ but sadly‚ little remained of that culture in the last few years.

“When we started in our new roles‚ our first team was in 11th place in the National First Division (NFD). We ended the 2018/2019 season in 4th place‚ only 1 goal away from a spot in the play-offs.

“The hard work of Andries and his technical team is paying off. Ajax CT is currently at the top of the NFD and was playing a role in the cup competition for the first time in years.

“Unfortunately‚ things were turbulent behind the scenes. Since January 2020 Ari Efstathiou had again taken over all football-related matters‚ against the wishes of Ajax Amsterdam‚ Ajax CT’s major shareholder and to our disquiet.

“At the beginning of January‚ an intense internal discussion took place concerning the policies that have been implemented and as a result Hans was suspended because of alleged ‘serious charges of misconduct’.”

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