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Johannesburg - PSL side, Ajax Cape Town, face the prospect of being liquidated as
the in-fighting behind the scenes reaches its crescendo, with the
relationship between the owners hitting rock bottom.
Monday afternoon the club held a full board meeting that consisted of
Cape Town shareholders, the Comitis brothers and the Efstathiou family,
as well as members from Ajax Amsterdam.
The meeting got off to an explosive start, which culminated in conflict and came to an end before it had really begun.
When Soccer-Laduma contacted Ari Efstathiou he confirmed that a board
meeting had been organised. He said, “We had an Ajax Cape Town board
meeting yesterday which once again proved to be unfruitful. We have
failed in all attempts to come to an agreement or settlement with
regards to the family’s assets, including the club. We have now called a
board meeting of Cape Town Stars (the company that holds the 49% of
Ajax Cape Town that the Efstathiou and Comitis families own) on Thursday
at 10am. At that meeting we will discuss the future of Ajax Cape Town.”
The crew asked what was meant by ‘the future of Ajax Cape Town’,
questioning whether liquidation was an option, to which he replied,
“Yes, it is. One of the points of discussion will be the winding up or
liquidating of the club.”
The long-standing feud between the two families that own 49% of the
Urban Warriors has been threatening to affect the club for a while now,
and this season it seems to be taking it’s toll, with results on the
pitch adding further pressure to the situation.
George Comitis, Ajax’s CEO, responded to the possibility of
liquidation, explaining that he would do everything in his power to stop
that happening. He said, “We didn’t have a good meeting yesterday and
the Efstathious walked out. I’m not aware of a Cape Town Stars directors
meeting on Thursday, but I don’t get invited to them, I’m a
shareholder, not a director. My brother, John, is a director of Cape
Town Stars.
“The club will obviously protect its assets, which includes the people
and it’s future. This club is bigger than Ari Efstathiou, we will not
let it go down. I will not allow anything to tamper with the lives and
livelihood of the players, the youth players, the staff and the club.”
John Comitis was also contacted by Soccer-Laduma, and did confirm that
he had been notified of a Cape Town Stars board meeting on Thursday,
however wouldn’t comment any further on the matter.
After 10 games, Ajax are fourth bottom of the PSL log, and their fans
could now face more woe with the news that, despite the club being in a
good financial state, they could be liquidated.
