Ajax CT: Comitis is our life chairman

Comitis was appointed honorary life chairman of the club by former Ajax Amsterdam CEO Rik van den Boog in May 2011, but the appointment was marred by a power struggle involving the Comitis brothers – John and George – and the three Efstathiou brothers, Ari, Alex and Nick.   Both families are shareholders of the club and the Efstathiou brothers were incensed with Comitis' appointment because they were apparently not consulted by Ajax Amsterdam about Comitis' appointment as life chairman.   Ari Efstathiou then applied to the Western Cape High Court to have John Comitis removed as a director of the club through an arbitration process.   Court papers allegedly revealed that Ari Efstathiou accused John Comitis of abusing his authority in relation to, among other things, the allocation of World Cup tickets and a cumulative amount of R3.5 million which Comitis received from the PSL board in 2008 that he shared in the broadcasting rights bonus, but allegedly pocketed the cash "without correct disclosure" to the Ajax board.   It now appears that the matter is now water under the bridge as Ajax have now issued a statement confirming John Comitis' position and exonerating him on the PSL cash allegations.   "Following a shareholders' meeting held on 18 June 2012, Ajax CT is proud to  announce the official confirmation of the award bestowed upon John Comitis as the Honorary Life Chairman of Ajax CT. The award was originally announced some 12 months ago by the previous CEO of Ajax Amsterdam, Mr Rik van den Boog," the statement reads.   "Certain procedural challenges followed and the award has now been  bestowed upon Mr Comitis which decided on at the shareholders meeting. The award honours Mr Comitis for the commitment he has shown the club and professional football over the years since the club was formed.   "In addition, an independent report commissioned by Ajax CT has found that  Ajax CT has no cause of action against Mr Comitis to recover a commission of  R3.5 million paid to him by the PSL for sponsorship deals. The report exonerates Mr Comitis, stating that he did not exceed his powers as a director of Ajax CT in accepting the commission, nor did he exceed those powers for an improper or collateral purpose in accepting the commission.    "The shareholders of Ajax CT can now confirm that they have passed a resolution at the shareholders meeting and it was decided that no legal proceedings will be instituted against Mr Comitis," Ajax conclude.