Football: Becali willing to give Steaua to the Defence ministry, considers taking over Petrolul Ploiesti

Gigi Begali, the financier of Steaua football club, unveiled on Tuesday’s press conference he considers leaving the team and investing in Petrolul Ploiesti instead.

“Petrolul Ploiesti is what I’d like the most, as it is the team of the Municipality, it’s near Bucharest, with 15,000 — 20,000 spectators attending every match. Then, I’ll win the championship there, and go to the Champions League. I’ll demonstrate that I perform elsewhere, too,” Becali argued.

Regarding the rows on the demands by the Steaua Army Sports Club, Becali said: “If they want it, I give it back, because they say they make a team. This is how I give it back. I took it over from the 12th place and losses worth 10 million euros. I give it back with zero debts in its accounts. In fact, I’m going to do the necessary so the moment they take back Steaua, from the very first month, they pay the salaries, plus the taxes to the state budget, which is approximately one million euros.”

The Steaua Army Sports Club has already made the first step to reopening the football section.

The Steaua Bucharest football team lost its logo, while the situation of its team record is yet unclear: Becali claims it belongs to his company, whilst the Army says that the businessman has never taken it over, so he couldn’t own it.