Marc Overmars gets worldwide football ban over inappropriate behaviour

BANNED: Marc Overmars will not be allowed to hold any position in professional football for at least a year.

The former Netherlands winger Marc Overmars will not be allowed to hold any position in professional football for at least a year owing to his inappropriate behaviour towards women at Ajax.

The Dutch football association (KNVB) confirmed reports in the Dutch newspaper NRC, which quoted 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 16 November 2023,” the KNVB said.

Overmars is the technical director at the Belgian club Royal Antwerp, whom he joined shortly after his sudden departure from Ajax.

A spokesperson for Overmars told NRC that the former Ajax, Arsenal and Barcelona winger had been informed of the suspension but was not yet ready to comment. Overmars could appeal against Fifa’s sanction, the newspaper said.