Former Netherlands winger Marc Overmars has been barred from participating in football worldwide by FIFA, the international governing body.
This follows a two-year suspension, with one year suspended, imposed by a Dutch sports tribunal in November 2023 for sending inappropriate messages to several female colleagues while serving as Ajax’s director of football.
Overmars, 50, resigned from Ajax in February 2022 and is currently the technical director at Royal Antwerp in Belgium.
Fifa confirmed the extension of the sanction following a request by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB).
A statement read: “FIFA can confirm that following a request by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanction imposed by KNVB on Marc Overmars to have worldwide effect.”
During his career, Overmars played over 130 games for Ajax, winning three league titles, the Dutch Cup, and the Champions League, before moving to Arsenal and then Barcelona.
After retiring, he spent a decade as director of football at Ajax.
Overmars expressed shame for his actions in 2022, acknowledging that such behavior was unacceptable for someone in his position.
“I am ashamed,” he said. “Certainly for someone in my position, this behavior is unacceptable. I now see that but it is too late. I see no other option but to leave Ajax.”
The International Football Association would not say when the suspension will take effect, and if Overmars can still file an appeal. The decision from the Disciplinary Committee was not published on FIFA’s website as of 9 p.m.
A spokesperson for the winger told NRC that the former Ajax, Arsenal, and Barcelona winger had been informed of the suspension but was not yet ready to comment.
“FIFA has said: you don’t belong in the football family. But FIFA is not above Belgian labor law. So it depends on what it says in Overmars’s contract,” Marjan Olfers, professor of sports law at the VU in Amsterdam told NPO.
