Several sponsors pulled out of Antwerp after Overmars’ appointment, club speak of ‘fatal communication error’

First, HR company Select Group announced that it will not renew its collaboration with Great Old beyond this season. This was followed by Descros, who specializes in pest control at the port. After the departure of these two young “partners”, the “premium sponsor” Federal Insurance also ended the collaboration.

Moreover, the Antwerp hospital group ZNA has stopped cooperation: the group will no longer accept money or goods from the club, and will no longer accept proposals to allow patients to start or attend the match. “If we want to keep looking for thousands of our employees and hundreds of thousands of patients in our eyes, we can’t go on with this.”

sexual aggressive behavior

So all of the departing sponsors cite the appointment of head coach Marc Overmars (48) as the reason. The former Dutch footballer was expelled from Premier League club Ajax at the beginning of February after accusations of sexually discriminatory behaviour. As Ajax’s director of football, Overmars is said to have sent spam, including pictures of Dick, to staff.

“The choice to appoint Mr Overmars, who has recently been accused of repeated infringing conduct and is currently under independent investigation in the Netherlands, is in direct conflict with our values ​​and standards,” Sponsor Select Group wrote in a press release. .

But the Antwerp connections are also irritating the sponsors. “We are very surprised by this decision. As a permanent partner and sponsor of the RAFC, we have not been consulted or informed in advance,” Select Group says.

Especially Lack of guilt insight during press conference Monday will carry the club’s Select Group team and Marc Overmars. We therefore deeply regret that the moment was lost during the press conference to witness calmly, cautiously and deliberately this process of self-reflection and insight gained, neither by RAFC management nor by Mr. Overmars himself. Nor have we heard or noticed any interest in communicating or dealing with the problem.

† Marc Neto has to do his trick against Ajax again

Pest fighter partner too

Maxim van Houwerbeek, director of Descroes, a port company that specializes in pest control on ships, in containers and in ship-cargo, reacts similarly. “It’s about appointing the Overmars himself, but also about poor communication at the club.” There was no contact with the club prior to the decision. Descroes also did not receive any response to the email.

The company has sponsored Antwerp for three years and has a contract for the next two years, but it is in breach of that contract. We have verified this with our legal department and are satisfied that we are within our rights. If this has consequences, we are prepared to bear them.

The club admits poor communication

the club itself Just reply thursday evening† Antwerp will not return to the Overmars. We believe everyone should be given a second chance. Marc Overmars will continue to put up with his past and will have to prove that he learned from it. Just as he will have to prove himself in the sports field.”

But Antwerp has a slight error about clumsy communications. Criticism of it is justified. We made a huge mistake in our advertising, because we failed to communicate the most obvious: how a safe work environment is a priority for all our players and employees and that we have zero tolerance for undesirable behavior in the workplace.

The team also refers to clauses in the contract Van Overmars who stipulated that Antwerp could dissolve the agreement, should new charges arise.