FARIOLI RESIGNS AS COACH AFTER AJAX LOSES DUTCH SOCCER TITLE IN LATE-SEASON COLLAPSE

AMSTERDAM (AP) - Ajax coach Francesco Farioli resigned on Monday, following his team´s late-season collapse that saw bitter rival PSV Eindhoven crowned Dutch champion.

Ajax had seemed all but certain to win the league as it held a nine-point lead with five games remaining, but a dire run allowed PSV to make up the deficit in dramatic fashion and clinch a 26th Eredivisie title on Sunday.

"The management and I have the same goals for the future of Ajax, but we have different visions and timeframes about the way we should work and operate to achieve those goals," said Farioli, who was in tears after Sunday´s match.

"Given these differences in the principles and foundations of the project, I feel deep in my heart that this is the best moment to part ways."

Farioli became Ajax´s first Italian coach - and first non-Dutch one since 1998 - when he was appointed almost exactly a year ago.

The 36-year-old had a contract until the end of June 2027.

"I find this incredibly disappointing ... we achieved our goal: qualifying for next season´s Champions League," Ajax Technical Director Alex Kroes said. "Francesco also played a key role in enhancing the high-performance culture at Ajax, for which we are extremely grateful.

"This summer was already set to be a challenging transfer window, and it has now become even more so. It is up to us to ensure that a strong new coaching team is in place when pre-season preparations begin on 26 June."

- Associated Press 

ISRAEL ISSUE FAN WARNING AHEAD OF FRANCE GAME; MACRON TO ATTEND

Maccabi supporters wave yellow flags next to Israeli flags during the UEFA Europa League soccer match at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on Nov. 7. ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/ANP/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Israel told citizens on Sunday to avoid going to cultural and sports events abroad involving Israelis in the coming week, following attacks last week q on Israeli soccer supporters in Amsterdam.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel had intelligence that pro-Palestinian groups abroad intended to harm Israelis in cities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and others.

France and Israel are playing in a UEFA Nations League match on Thursday that French President Emmanuel Macron will attend, the Elysee presidential palace said.

Paris police said Sunday that 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for the match to ensure security in and around the stadium and on public transportation a week after the violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam.

"There's a context, tensions that make that match a high-risk event for us," Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said on French news broadcaster BFM TV, adding authorities "won't tolerate" any violence.

Nuñez said that 2,500 police officers would be deployed around the Stade de France stadium, north of the French capital, in addition to 1,500 others in Paris and on public transportation.

"There will be an antiterrorist security perimeter around the stadium," Nuñez said. Security checks will be "reinforced," he added, including systematic pat-downs and bag searches.

Nuñez said that French organizers have been in contact with Israeli authorities and security forces in order to prepare for the match.

Israeli fans were assaulted last week after a soccer game in Amsterdam by groups of young people apparently riled up by calls on social media to target Jewish people, according to Dutch authorities. Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Amsterdam, Israel and across Europe.

On Sunday, Dutch police detained several people for taking part in a demonstration in central Amsterdam that had been outlawed following the violence targeting Israeli fans, a local broadcaster reported.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed Friday that the France-Israel match would go ahead as planned.

"I think that for a symbolic reason we must not yield, we must not give up," he said, noting that sports fans from around the world came together for the Paris Olympics this year to celebrate the "universal values" of sports.

Macron's expected attendance not only is a show of support for the French team, but also aims as sending "a message of fraternity and solidarity following the intolerable antisemitic acts that followed the match in Amsterdam," an official in Macron's entourage said. The official couldn't be named in line with the Elysee's customary practices.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.

- ESPN News Services 

AMSTERDAM CLASH: ISRAELI PLANE LANDED AMID HEZBOLLAH ATTACK ON CENTRAL ISRAEL

MORE TURMOIL AT AJAX AS NEW CEO SUSPENDED ON SUSPICION OF INSIDER TRADING

AP Photo 

 AMSTERDAM (AP) — Ajax's calamitous season worsened when the Amsterdam club suspended new CEO Alex Kroes on Tuesday and said it intends to fire him on suspicion of insider trading in the club's shares.

Kroes, who started at Ajax only last month as a permanent replacement for Edwin van der Sar, could not immediately be reached for comment. He posted a statement on LinkedIn saying he “cannot simply accept this decision of the Supervisory Board.”

A successful sports administrator, Kroes was seen as a key to bringing the struggling four-time European champion back to the top of Dutch and European soccer after a dismal start to the season when Ajax fell into the Eredivisie relegation zone and fired coach Maurice Steijn.

The club has risen to fifth in the Eredivisie but 28 points behind runaway leader PSV Eindhoven, and is looking to hire a new coach for next season.

“We are deeply dismayed that this has occurred at Ajax, as it is highly detrimental to the club and everyone who holds it dear to them," Michael van Praag, chairman of the supervisory board, said in a statement.

Ajax said it suspended Kroes after discovering he bought more than 17,000 Ajax shares a week before his intended appointment was announced last August.

“The supervisory board sought external legal advice, which indicates that he likely engaged in insider trading. Insider trading is a criminal offense,” the club said.

Kroes confirmed in his statement that he bought about 17,500 Ajax shares shortly before his appointment in addition to more shares he already held in the club.

“I thought it would be a positive sign to express confidence in the club and to shareholders,” he said.

“I believe that you express confidence to your fellow shareholders and stakeholders when you buy shares yourself and therefore also run financial risks yourself. ‘Skin in the game,’ as it’s called.”

Van der Sar stepped down last May after the team finished third in the Dutch league, missing out on a Champions League berth.

Van der Sar formed a strong and successful partnership in the Ajax boardroom with former teammate Marc Overmars, until Overmars abruptly quit as the director of football more than two years ago after apologizing for sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues.

LEONID STEIN VS. DAVID BROSTEIN | MAY 21, 1964

TCS AMSTERDAM MARATHON 2022 | SUMMARY | MEN

AJAX TACTICS OUT ON TIKTOK