After winning the title, the women’s team from Ajax Amsterdam is denied a public championship celebration by their own club management. The celebration planned for Whit Monday will not take place because the Dutch football club does not want to work on it, the city announced on Thursday evening.
The Ajax women should be honored on the Leidseplein, a square in the middle of Amsterdam. But the club’s management said that they were neither behind the time nor the place. The lack of festive spirit at Ajax, whose men’s team, spoiled by success, is only third in the Eredivisie table with one matchday to go before the end of the season, also plays a role, according to the statement published in various media.
Manifold reasons
Ajax also justified the step by saying that the women’s championship decision was made on May 7th and was therefore too long ago. In addition, the club management around director Edwin van der Sar suspects that too few people would come to the celebration. “And that would not be good for the image of women’s football,” said the club.
The team had already been received by Mayor Femke Halsema in her official residence. She then offered to organize the celebration in the city center as well. It was the third title for the Ajax women after 2017 and 2018. There has never been a public championship celebration.
Outrage in the Netherlands
The cancellation of the club’s management triggered great outrage in the Netherlands. Some politicians and journalists even accused the club management of sexism. National player Merel van Dongen, who played for Amsterdam until 2018, tweeted: “With friends like this you don’t need enemies anymore.”