Ajax players will be ‘focused’ on game

Ajax Cape Town's top brass have been trying to shield their players from the boardroom drama at the club.

Ajax Cape Town's top brass have been trying to shield their players from the boardroom drama at the club.

Published May 1, 2013

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Cape Town – Ajax Cape Town chief executive George Comitis says the possibility of a split with Ajax Amsterdam will not distract his players ahead of Wdnesday’s crucial Premiership clash against Kaizer Chiefs.

There are fears that the public spat might disturb the Ajax players as they desperately try to avoid relegation. The Cape side have been in a war of words with mother club Ajax Amsterdam since Muhsin Ertugral replaced Dutchman Jan Versleijen, who decided to step down after the Turk was initially appointed as head of technical affairs.

But Comitis poured cold water on suggestions that the players will be influenced by the row, and said their main focus is trying to get the three points on offer against the PSL’s league leaders. Chiefs could also clinch the title with a win on Wednesday.

“The players have been in camp since yesterday morning and have been cut off from the world. They have been training and are 100 percent focused on the job at hand,” Comitis told the Cape Times.

Former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars, who is now director of football at Ajax Amsterdam, launched a scathing attack on the Cape operation in the Dutch press, saying they were very angry about the departure of coach Versleijen.

“That Ajax Cape Town created a position at the club of technical director to go above the coach without consulting us creates a big problem,” Overmars said.

“They seem to forget that we have 51 percent of the shares. There are several options for us in the coming months. If stopping (the relationship) costs money, that does not matter.”

Other than those comments, Comitis said they haven’t had any official talks with Ajax Amsterdam since their previous board meeting last Tuesday. He also said a date for the next meeting hasn’t been set yet, but he assured the Urban Warriors’ faithful that they are going to try and iron out the differences that exist between the two shareholders, Ajax Amsterdam (51 percent) and Cape Town Stars (49 percent).

“We don’t want to go into a slanging match with each other because we as Ajax Cape Town have three crucial matches coming up, starting with the match against Chiefs,” Comitis said. Ertugral did not sit on the bench in his first match in charge last Saturday, but he will be on the touchline on Wednesday after receiving his work permit. – Cape Times

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