A day after Ajax Amsterdam clinched a place in next season's Champions League qualifying rounds Dutch tax inspectors arrived at the club to investigate allegations of irregular payments.
"Ajax is suspected by the tax inspectorate of having paid amounts that should have been considered as salaries," Ajax said in a brief statement today.
Public prosecutors in Amsterdam, who coordinated the raid, said their investigation concerned payments to two players Ajax had signed. Ajax later said the two were Georgian striker Shota Arveladze who came to Ajax in 1997 and Danish midfielder Michael Laudrup, who played for the Amsterdam club in the 1997-1998 season.
Laudrup, who ended his playing career after his year at Ajax, is now Denmark's assistant coach.
"The suspicion is that the payments were presented as untaxed transfer compensation rather than as wages," the public prosecutors' office said.
Public prosecutors said their investigation, launched at the end of 2000, had led them to search premises elsewhere in The Netherlands and abroad. A number of people have been detained for questioning.
Prosecutors say they suspect the tax authorities may have lost out by as much as five million guilders ($2.0 million).
Ajax shares, which shot up 7.9 percent to their highest point this year after Sunday's success, were suspended this morning at the club's request.
Ajax clinched a place in the qualifying round of the lucrative Champions League competition after they beat AZ Alkmaar 5-1 in their final league match on Sunday, while Roda JC Kerkrade, who had been third, lost 3-2 to RKC Waalwijk.