UEFA announces verdict on Steaua Bucharest football club
The football side Steaua Bucharest are on probation for 5 years following disciplinary investigations by UEFA.
Ştefan Stoica, 26.06.2013, 13:07
Steaua Bucharest’s staff, players and supporters have sighed a sigh of relief as the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has made public its decision relating to a corruption case that could have threatened the club’s European season. It was ruled that Steaua are not eligible to participate in one UEFA club competition for which the club would otherwise qualify, but the sanction has been deferred for a probationary period of five years.
The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body started to investigate Steaua when the club’s financier, George Becali, received a prison sentence over a notorious case from 2008 when he attempted to give 1.7 million euros to a team about to play against Steaua’s rival to the championship title in the last game of the season. Becali’s attempt was considered bribe giving by the High Court of Cassation and Justice, which sentenced him to time in prison. UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body, which is currently fighting a campaign to eradicate corruption in football, has immediately reacted.
Famous clubs such as Juventus have in the past been excluded from European competitions for rigging games and giving bribes to referees. Two of Istanbul’s biggest clubs, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş, which were investigated for serious allegations at the same time as Steaua, have been excluded from participating in European competitions. It was perhaps by comparison with the two Turkish clubs that Steaua got off lightly, taking into account certain mitigating circumstances, including the fact that the club made no attempt to bribe direct adversaries or referees.
The decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body gives Steaua the motivation they seem to have lost while waiting for the verdict. The team now look at the Champions League group stage, where they are well seeded in preliminary and play-off games. A qualification would bring Steaua at least 20 million euros, which would make the club independent from funding from George Becali, who is now in prison.
On the other hand, UEFA’s verdict is a stark warning, not only for Steaua but for Romanian football in general, which is suspected of serious corruption. In fact, the heads of the Football Federation and the Professional Football League in Romania are themselves investigated by the National Anticorruption Durectorate for abuse of office. Other important names in Romanian football, from agents to club managers, are also being investigated for illegal transfers of Romanian football players to foreign clubs.
