Sven Mislintat only took up his position as technical director at Ajax Amsterdam in May, and since then the criticism of the former sports director of VfB Stuttgart has not subsided. In addition to Ajax’s weak start to the season, which is only in twelfth place in the table after four match days, and an allegedly cold relationship with coach Maurice Steijn, the 51-year-old is now accused of a conflict of interest. The background is the transfer of Borna Sosa from VfB to Ajax.
The left-back Sosa moved from Stuttgart to Amsterdam for eight million euros on the so-called Deadline Day, i.e. at the very end of the transfer phase. The transfer was handled by the consulting agency “AKA Global GmbH”. However, because the company has held 3.16 percent of the shares in the data analysis company “Matchmetrics” since the summer of this year, which was co-founded by Sven Mislintat and in which he himself has a 35 percent stake, he could have personally benefited from the transfer. In any case, the story is an unfortunate love triangle.
The core of the accusation is that Mislintat did not inform the Dutch record champions of the juicy shareholder constellation. In a statement to the Dutch broadcaster NOS, Ajax stated that it had “no knowledge of AKA Global GmbH’s involvement in Matchmetrics.” The association will now initiate an investigation, but can count on Mislintat’s complete transparency: “Sven offers his full cooperation, including passing on all relevant documents.”
Special rules apply to listed associations
In addition to the discussions about the already controversial technical director, the conflict of interest could have further consequences. As a listed company, Ajax Amsterdam has stricter rules than other clubs. Entanglements such as the one now apparently present can be legally prohibited in a stock corporation. The contract concluded between Borna Sosa and Ajax Amsterdam could subsequently be declared invalid because of Mislintat’s connections to Sosa’s consulting agency.
Misconduct also threatens consequences. Withholding relevant information could cost him his job – and he could be held responsible for any financial loss to Ajax Amsterdam. The fact that Sosa only changed his consulting agency shortly before the transfer and was now represented by AKA Global instead of CAA Stellar leaves a bad aftertaste. Mislintat has not yet publicly commented on the allegations.
Open detailed view
Sven Mislintat is controversial at Ajax Amsterdam.
(Photo: David Inderlied/dpa)
However, it is now also said from those around Ajax that the club’s supervisory board has been dissatisfied with Mislintat’s work for a long time – and a possible reason for the separation could even come in handy for the club. Mislintat had already come under fire this summer after he wanted to sign Russian-Armenian midfielder Eduard Sperzjan. The transfer from Russian first division club FK Krasnodar to Ajax was prohibited by the Ajax supervisory board due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
With reference to the obvious connections between Mislintat, AKA Global and Matchmetrics, VfB Stuttgart has now also announced that it will investigate transactions from the term of office of its old sports director. VfB told Kicker on Thursday that they were “investigating the affected transfer activities due to the circumstances”. In 2020, for example, Waldemar Anton moved to VfB under the mandate of AKA Global. It remains to be seen to what extent the transfer could have inconsistencies. Sven Mislintat was sports director in Stuttgart from May 2019 to November 2022.
