Johan Cruyff has strongly denied being a racist after allegations that he had made a discriminatory remark against Edgar Davids. Cruyff was accused of a racist remark against the former Holland midfielder at a meeting of Ajax's supervisory board, on which they both sit.

"My foundation now has some 120 football pitches laid out for children, a lot of them immigrants," Cruyff said of his work on behalf of disabled and underprivileged youngsters. "We live in a multicultural society. They discredit themselves with this. I have a broad back … It is really too much to respond."

Cruyff was speaking after Davids gave an interview on the Dutch television show Studio Voetbal on Sunday afternoon. He made claims of racism towards him but did not mention Cruyff.

Davids said: "Sometimes people cross the line within the supervisory board. There have even been racist comments. I don't want to go into details."

Subsequently, another Ajax supervisory board member, Steven ten Have, conducted a live interview with Studio Voetbal in which he pointed the finger at Cruyff. Ten Have said Cruyff's direct comment to Davids was: "You are only on the supervisory board because you're black." Ten Have added: "Edgar has been insulted and has received shocking treatment."

In a later interview Davids stressed he believed that Cruyff is not racist.

Ten Have did not specify at what meeting the alleged comment was made but claimed that every time the supervisory board convenes proceedings are recorded.

Ajax declined to comment on the affair. Cruyff, a former Barcelona manager, was expected to expand on the issue on Tuesday in his weekly column in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. That routinely appears on Monday but a weather delay which impeded Cruyff's return to his home in Catalonia on Sunday evening meant that his column this week was postponed for 24 hours.

Cruyff's position on the Ajax committee has been subject to scrutiny in any case, with speculation in Amsterdam suggesting that he could leave his post at a meeting next Monday. The appointment of Louis van Gaal as Ajax's chief executive, reportedly without Cruyff's knowledge, is thought to have caused a split.