Football: Dutchman Marc Overmars banned from exercising after messages of a sexual nature

Former international Marc Overmars was banned on Thursday from carrying out any activity related to Dutch football for a year, after sending sexual photos and videos to female employees when he was sporting director of Ajax Amsterdam .

Overmars resigned from her position in February 2022, after admitting to sending a “series of inappropriate messages” to some of her colleagues and saying she was “ashamed” of her behavior.

He was nevertheless appointed technical director of the Belgian club Royal Antwerp a month later.

On Thursday, the Dutch Sports Court (ISR) decided to ban the former winger from “performing any function” with an organization affiliated with the Dutch Football Federation for two years, one of which was suspended.

“In examining the appropriate sanction, the disciplinary committee took into account the fact that the case was highly publicized and was detrimental to the accused,” the ISR said.

However, it indicates that Overmars' “inappropriate behavior” had been going on for a long time and that several cases had been identified.

Marc Overmars had held the position of sporting director of Ajax since 2012 and had taken some responsibility for the recent successes of the Amsterdam club, notably during its European epic in the Champions League in 2019 (semi-final) or during of its Europa League final in 2017.

A renowned winger in the 1990s when he was a player, Marc Overmars lifted the most prestigious European club trophy with Ajax in 1995. He also has three Dutch championship titles. Transferred to England, to Arsenal, he won the Premier League title in 1998, before being sold to FC Barcelona in 2000.

With the Dutch national team, he played in the 1994 World Cup and that of 1998, finishing in 4th place.