Bergkamp banished in Ajax shakeup

THE HAGUE - Ajax sacked coach Marcel Keizer and his assistants Dennis Bergkamp and Hennie Spijkerman on Thursday, a day after the Amsterdam club was bundled out of the Dutch Cup.

"The club management does not have the requisite confidence that our ambitions will be realized under them," Ajax said in a statement, adding that poor results were behind the decision to dispense with Keizer and veteran assistant Spijkerman.

There was also a difference of opinion with former Arsenal great Bergkamp, an Ajax icon from his playing days, over the club's technical direction, the statement added.