10 January 2024 , 19:21
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Marc Overmans will be banned from holding any position in professional football for at least a year after sending 'inappropriate messages' to female colleagues while he was at Ajax.
Overmars, 50, had initially been banned in the Netherlands for two years - with one year suspended - by an independent Dutch sports tribunal. On Wednesday, the Dutch football association (KNVB) confirmed reports from newspaper NRC that FIFA had taken over the former Arsenal and Barcelona winger's suspension.
A statement from the global football governing body read: "FIFA can confirm that following a request by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has decided to extend the sanction imposed by KNVB on Mr Marc Overmars to have worldwide effect."
After quitting his job as director of football at Ajax in February 2022, Overmars admitted to "unacceptable" behaviour after it was claimed that he'd sent inappropriate messages and photographs to several women who worked for the Amsterdam-based club.
The 50-year-old is currently the technical director of Belgian champions Royal Antwerp, whom he joined shortly after leaving Ajax. "I am ashamed," he wrote in his departing statement. "Certainly for someone in my position this behaviour is unacceptable. I now see that but it is too late. I see no other option but to leave Ajax."
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Overmars racked up more than 130 appearances as a player for Ajax between 1992 and 1997, winning three league titles, the Dutch cup and the Champions League. The winger then joined Arsenal, going on to win the double with the Gunners in the first of his three-season stint.
Barcelona came calling in 2000 and Overmars, capped 86 times by his country at international level, spent his next four campaigns at Camp Nou. Due to dealing with a persistent knee injury, he announced his retirement in July 2004 but would make a comeback in the 2008-09 season with Go Ahead Eagles.
Marc Overmars helped Royal Antwerp win their first Belgian title in 66 years (TOM GOYVAERTS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)Overmars returned to Ajax as a youth coach in 2011 before taking up the role of director of football a year later. His decade-long stay saw the Dutch giants reach the 2019 Champions League semi-finals and make significant profit in the transfer market by selling a number of young talents.
A spokesperson for Overmars told NRC that the ex-Arsenal forward had been informed of the FIFA ruling but wasn't ready to comment. He could appeal the decision.