On Wednesday evening, Ajax lost 3-0 to Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League to start their European season with four consecutive defeats.
The club confirmed on Thursday that Heitinga's tenure as Ajax manager came to an end.
"It's a painful decision. But looking back at the past few months, we must conclude that things have turned out quite differently from what we had envisioned. We’ve seen too little progress and have unnecessarily dropped points," technical director Alex Kroes said in a club statement.
"We know it can take time for a new coach to work with a squad that has undergone changes. We have given John that time, but we believe it’s best for the club to appoint someone else to lead the team. We hope to present a new head coach together as soon as possible."
Alongside Heitinga, assistant Marcel Keizer has also been relieved of his duties at Ajax. Assistant manager Fred Grim will serve as caretaker until a replacement is found.
"We thank John and Marcel for their efforts and wish Fred the best of luck, starting with Sunday’s away match in Utrecht."
Technical director announces departure
With Heitinga and Keizer, technical director Alex Kroes has announced he's making his position available. Kroes takes accountability for the situation but will remain at the club for the sake of continuity, following calls from the Supervisory Board and fellow board members.
"My contract runs until the end of the season; should the club appoint a new technical director earlier, I will hand over my responsibilities at that time."
Disaster from start to end
Ajax appointed former defender John Heitinga days after manager Francesco Farioli suddenly left the club in May. Heitinga had previously worked as an assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool - something that the club admitted spoke highly in Heitinga's favour.
After a shaky start to the season, which started with struggling home wins over lowly Telstar, Heracles Almelo, and PEC Zwolle, and draws away at Go Ahead Eagles and FC Volendam, Ajax got their first UEFA Champions League campaign since 2022 underway with a hopeless 2-0 home defeat to last year's finalists Inter.
After a 2-2 draw away at PSV, Ajax played their worst game of the season as NAC Breda were barely beaten 2-1 in Amsterdam. The low point of Heitinga's managerial career came a couple of days later, when Olympique Marseille handed Ajax their joint-largest Champions League away defeat, a 4-0 defeat of the former winners.
The loss in France sent the team down a losing path, with Ajax winning just one of their last seven games (3-2 away at FC Twente). The final straw came on Wednesday night, when Galatasaray beat Ajax 3-0, adding to the Amsterdam giants' string of hopeless defeats.