Gigi Becali
Gigi Becali (born
George Becali, nicknamed "Gigi" born
25 June 1958) is a controversial
Romanian politician and businessman, famous for being the owner of
Steaua football club.
His family is of
Aromanian origin and settled in the
Cadrilater, but, following the
Treaty of Craiova and the
population exchange between
Bulgaria and
Romania, they had to move to the commune of
Săcălaz,
Timiş County, near
Timişoara.
[Gazeta Sporturilor, "Lanţul amintirilor lui Gigi Becali", 16 January 2006]He was born in
Zagna,
Vădeni,
Brăila County, as his family was deported in
Bărăgan by the
Communist authorities because of their associations with the pre-WWII fascist
Iron Guard. His cousins,
Victor Becali and
Ioan Becali, are also involved in Romanian football.
After the
Romanian Revolution of 1989, he bought land near
Bucharest, which over time gained in value. However, the key factor that reportedly made him a millionaire was an exchange of land with the
Romanian Army, dubbed by the Romanian scandal press as suspicious, as the Army did not need the land it received and the land it gave was worth much more. Becali gave to the army a 21.5 ha terrain in
Ştefăneştii de Jos (about 15 km from
Bucharest) and received a 20.9 ha terrain in
Băneasa-
Pipera, in Northern Bucharest.
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Gigi Becali revine la mahala", 2 March 2005] As the real estate prices skyrocketed in the capital, he sold the land to some companies which built some residential areas. This affair is currently (as of June 2006) investigated by the
National Anticorruption Department.
[Gândul, "Scandalul schimbului de terenuri dintre Gigi Becali şi Ministerul Apărării Naţionale s-a mutat la DNA", June 17, 2006]After the
2005 floods, he funded with $4 million the rebuilding of about 200 houses in the
Vulturul village (
Vadu Roşca commune,
Vrancea county) that was destroyed by the overflow of the
Siret river. Subsequently the villagers wanted to rename it
Vulturul Becali in his honor.
He is married and has three children.
He has led the
New Generation Party (PNG) since
January 2004 and was its candidate in the
Romanian presidential election, 2004, placing sixth out of twelve candidates, with 1.77% of the votes.
His political views appear to be extreme nationalistic; he declared himself a follower of the
Pre-WWII Romanian Legionnaire Movement and of
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Even his electoral slogan "I swear to God that I'll make Romania shine like the holy sun of the sky" (
"Eu Gigi Becali, jur în faţa tuturor românilor şi în faţa lui Dumnezeu că voi face ca România să strălucească precum soarele sfânt de pe cer!") is taken from Testament of
Ion Moţa, one of the founders of "
The Legion of Saint Michael the Archangel".
In his 2004 electoral campaign, Becali used clips of the "
Mihai Viteazul" movie (directed by
Sergiu Nicolaescu), whose main character was played by
Amza Pellea. Amza's daughter, Oana Pellea, sued Becali for using Amza Pellea's image without permission and won 35,000 RON (about $12,000) in damages.
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Gigi Becali a fost invins de Oana Pellea", 14 March 2006]Becali has also been sued various times, mostly over slander, by the football coach
Anghel Iordănescu, politician
Radu Berceanu and a
Divizia A referee, Cristian Balaj.
He often had disputes with
Corneliu Vadim Tudor, another far-right politician. These disputes, usually consisted of exchanges of insults between the two.
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Vadim îl face pe Becali handicapat" 3 September 2004.] He had another dispute with Prime Minister
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu whom he named a "cockroach-politician" and a "Very Important
Papagal" (
papagal means "parrot" in Romanian).
[Bucharest Daily News, "Becali says the PM is a 'cockroach-politician'", 16 April 2006]Becali joined the General Shareholders' Council of the
FC Steaua Bucharest football team at the end of the 1990s, during the presidency of bussinessman
Viorel Păunescu. Step by step, he tried to eliminate other possible candidates and gather all the Club's shares. He obtained 51% of the shares on
6 February 2003 and he bought another 15% toward the end of the year 2003.
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Gigi Becali deţine 66 la sută din FC Steaua SA" 5 January 2004]There have been numerous controversies with the violent declarations linked with the Steaua football team, including the use of slurs against the
Roma and other minorities by fans and employees of Becali. He also sang in
April 2005 a
manea which included a racial slur against the Roma.
[Pro Sport, Gigi Becali a devenit interpret de manea..., 27 April 2005]On
October 17,
2005, his entire fortune was impounded by the National Fiscal Authority (ANAF) for debts totaling US$ 11,000,000. However, Becali sued the ANAF and won the trial, and subsequently the order of seizure was lifted.
[Cronica Română, "Gigi Becali a câştigat procesul cu ANAF", May 20, 2006].
In 2005, provoked controversy by using an extremely vulgar language in an interview. Insulting the reporter and the channel he worked for (
Antena 1), Becali used a very large number of
expletives.
In
July 2005, in a restaurant, Becali cursed, spat and spilled a glass of wine on
Şerban Huidu, the creator of the satirical TV show
"Cronica Cârcotaşilor".
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Huidu nu vrea bani de la Gigi Becali", 20 July 2005]Following a match of
FC Steaua in
April 2006, his bodyguards also used violence against a female reporter of
Realitatea TV after Becali called them to "take her away from that place".
[Evenimentul Zilei, "Jurnalistă de la Realitatea TV agresată de gărzile lui Becali", 28 April 2006]Gigi Becali has revealed his true personality recently in many appearances on talk shows broadcast by channels such as
Realitatea TV. He currently seems to be one of the most favourite subjects of the
Romanian media. The ultimate proof of his megalomaniacal and extremely rude behaviour is a recording of the aforementioned private phone conversation that he had with a reporter in
July 2005. The reporter called to ask him some questions related to the
Steaua football club. Becali used this oportunity to unleash a flurry of grotesque curses addressed to
Antena 1 and
Dan Voiculescu. He himself said in the dialogue that "he is not a civilised man".
He recently declared that he developed a friendship with president
Traian Băsescu, saying that he will "fight against all his enemies" and that the president "needs his help". Most Romanians consider Becali's candidacy for the Romanian presidency a menace, because they think he clearly lacks any sense of administration.
*
gigibecali.ro: official site (in Romanian)
*
New Generation Party: official site (in Romanian)
*
Becali fixing his car (a Maybach!) with a crow bar*
Conversation with Antena 1 reporter*
Ropot de aplauze, pâine coaptă în ţăst, peşte prăjit şi friptură pentru Becali
