AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Former Netherlands international Marc Overmars will not be allowed to hold any position in professional football for at least a year due to his inappropriate behaviour towards women at Ajax Amsterdam, the Dutch football association (KNVB) said on Wednesday.
The KNVB confirmed earlier reports in Dutch newspaper NRC, which quoted world football’s governing body FIFA as saying it had taken over the suspension handed to Overmars in the Netherlands late last year.
Overmars quit his job at Ajax in February 2022, admitting to “unacceptable” behaviour after it emerged within the club that he had sent inappropriate messages and photographs to several women who worked there.
An independent sports tribunal last year banned Overmars from any position in Dutch football for two years over the incidents, with one year suspended.
The KNVB then asked FIFA to turn the domestic suspension into a global one.
“We have a duty to report this sanction to FIFA’s disciplinary committee … which has decided to take over the suspension as of Nov. 16, 2023,” the KNVB said in a statement.
Overmars is technical director at Belgian side Royal Antwerp, who he joined shortly after his sudden departure from Ajax.
A spokesperson for Overmars told NRC that the former Netherlands, Arsenal and Barcelona winger was informed of the suspension but was not yet ready to comment.
Overmars could appeal FIFA’s sanction, the newspaper said.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Toby Davis, Peter Rutherford)
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