Cruyff, Davids play down racism row

Dutch football great Johan Cruyff on Tuesday denied being racist when he said that Edgar Davids was only on the board of Ajax because of the color of his skin.Cruyff is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with the four other members of the Ajax supervisory board over their appointment last week of Louis van Gaal as club director.Allegations surfaced over the weekend that Cruyff directed a racist comment at Davids, who is of Surinamese descent. Cruyff reportedly said at a meeting earlier this year that Davids skin color was the reason for his appointment to the board.In his column in Tuesdays edition of Dutch daily De Telegraaf, Cruyff denied any racist connotations.The former Dutch playmaker, considered one of the greatest footballers ever, explained the comment in his column by saying it was made in connection with efforts by Ajax to keep young players of non-Dutch descent at the club."It was Frank Rijkaards idea to tackle the problem by putting somebody from the same background on the board who had completed the youth academy," Cruyff wrote. "That was one of the reasons Davids was asked to be on the advisory board."Cruyffs management declined an Associated Press request for an interview.Davids also wrote on his blog that he had not intended to portray Cruyff as racist.
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