Ajax CT to lose Amsterdam backing?

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Ari Efstathiou, CEO of Ajax Cape Town
  • Post published:August 1, 2018

After accepting their relegation to the National First Division (NFD), Ajax Cape Town are facing the possibility of ending their partnership with parent club Ajax Amsterdam.

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This comes after the Urban Warriors’ decision to withdraw their bid to interdict the 2018-19 Premier Soccer League (PSL) start.

Ajax CT CEO Ari Efstathiou said that the Dutch giants are ‘extremely disappointed’ by the ‘Ndorogate’ saga and are reconsidering their options of continuing their relationship with the Mother City-based outfit.

‘They are extremely disappointed‚’ Efstathiou told theSowetan.

‘They are backing the club in the NFD but they are considering their options and that’s understandable.’

Efstathiou said that he was not pleased with the way the situation was handled, stating that it should have taken a week to settle – instead, it took five months.

‘They are extremely disappointed with what has happened and the results of the court cases‚’ he added.

‘I don’t think it reflects very well on South African football that a matter takes five months to come to a situation like this and even worse‚ that the league actually finished before the ruling against us came out.

‘It was a process that was delayed and who can [blame] them‚ sitting on the outside looking in‚ being perplexed because legal issues in all the other associations usually take no longer than a week to settle while we have been at it for five months.’

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The club’s CEO added that their parent club were well aware of the legal manoeuvring and have backed the club throughout the process.

‘From the first step that we took‚ we have been discussing it with them so they were very aware of it.

‘They‚ obviously‚ followed the process and they were completely behind what we agreed to do‚’ Efstathiou concluded.

Ajax Cape Town will take on Jomo Cosmos in their opening National First Division encounter at the Vosloorus Stadium on Sunday, with kick-off set for 3pm.