The Hague: Edwin van der Sar has been appointed the marketing director of Dutch football club Ajax.
In addition, Ajax announced that Amsterdam businessman Michael Kinsbergen will be the new general director. He is supposed to prepare van der Sar for a future job as general director. The directors board already consisted of financial director Jeroen Slop and technical director Marc Overmars.
The 42-year-old van der Sar holds the record of 130 caps for the Dutch team and won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995. He ended his career at Manchester United in 2011 and received his diploma in International Master of Sport Management at the Johan Cruyff University afterwards.
The appointment of van der Sar was approved by Johan Cruijff, the main advisor of Ajax who has been calling for more former Ajax players in the direction of his former club.
The supervisory board of Ajax, led by Hans Wijers, considers van der Sar as a potential general manager.
"Van der Sar not only has a great track record in international football but he also possesses the natural leadership and the potential to eventually become general manager of Ajax," said Wijers in a press release Monday.
Kinsbergen and van der Sar will start their work Nov 26 and will be officially appointed Dec 31. The former goalkeeper takes over from Henri van der Aat, who will quit as the commercial director by the end of this year.
IANS
First Published: Tuesday, November 20, 2012, 15:25