The five members of Ajax Amsterdam′s supervisory board are stepping down. It’s the latest twist in the long-running leadership struggle at the most successful club in Dutch soccer history. 

The dispute has pitted Johan Cruyff against the other four members of the supervisory board, who named Louis van Gaal and Martin Sturkenboom as directors behind Cruyff’s back in November. The four sidelined Cruyff after earlier attempts to appoint the two men had been obstructed by the football legend. 
 
Cruyff took the matter to court and, on Tuesday, an appeal court in Amsterdam overturned the appointment of Louis van Gaal as CEO of Ajax. It ruled that it was unacceptable that the other four board members had moved without Cruyff’s knowledge or consent.
 
No more confidence
The supervisory board has now thrown in the towel. “The board is prepared to step down as soon as possible, once suitable successors have been found who can count on broad support,” Ajax said in a press statement on Thursday. It added that tomorrow’s extraordinary shareholders meeting, where a vote of confidence on the board was scheduled to take place, would be cancelled.
 
Ajax has also announced that technical manager Danny Blind and interim CEO Martin Sturkenboom have also resigned from the club. Blind, like Cruyff, is regarded as a club icon. He won the European Champions League in 1995 as Ajax captain and has held several management positions at the club since.
 
Dented reputation
The timing of the resignations comes as no surprise. Both the supervisors and the directors they appointed had lost all credibility at Ajax. Their reputations would have been further dented if they had clung on to power right until Friday's shareholders' meeting.
 
If the shareholders had, as expected, voted to force the board out of office, it could have done tremendous damage to the club. First, the power to decide on the composition of a new advisory board would have been transferred to a special court authority. And second, it could have prompted Ajax's main sponsor, Aegon insurance company, to terminate its financial commitment to Ajax.
 
This week's court ruling and today's announcements are seen as key victories for Cruyff and his many supporters. Since the start of the season, Ajax has been split into two camps over how it should be run: as a listed company or as a football club. Cruyff favours the latter. With the proponents of the first option either gone or dealt a serious blow, he now has free rein to restore the troubled club to glory.
 
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