George Becali

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George Becali

George Becali
Born June 25 1958
Zagna, Vădeni, Brăila County, Romania
Residence Voluntari, Ilfov County
Nationality Romanian
Ethnicity Aromanian
Education Number 13 High School, Bucharest
Occupation Entrepreneur and politician
Political party New Generation – Christian Democrat Party
Religious beliefs Romanian Orthodox Christian
See also Gigi Becali (in Romanian)
For criticism see Criticism of George_Becali

George Becali (commonly known in Romania as Gigi Becali, born 25 June, 1958) is a controversial Romanian politician and businessman, mostly known for being the owner of Steaua football club. He is now also an Europarliamentair, elected under the lists of Corneliu Vadim Tudor's PRM lists, but as a representative of his own party.

George Becali is a favorite character on Romanian televisions, currently receiving tens of minutes in primetime every evening, both in primary news and sport news. A recent poll[1] of most trusted politicians put him at 20%, close to the current prime minister's, Emil Boc, and his party at 7%.

Contents

Biography

His family is of Aromanian origin from Plasë, Albania, and settled in Southern Dobrogea, but, following the Treaty of Craiova and the population exchange between Bulgaria and Romania, they had to move to the village of Săcălaz, Timiş County, near Timişoara.[2]

He was born in Zagna, Vădeni, Brăila County, as his family was deported to the Bărăgan by the Communist authorities because of their associations with the pre-WWII fascist Iron Guard. In 1994, he married Luminiţa, who is 11 years younger than him; the couple have three daughters: Teodora (b. 1996), Alexandra (b. 1997) and Cristina (b. 2001).

His cousins, Victor Becali and Ioan Becali, are also involved in Romanian football. They were all raised in a family of shepherds, fact with which Gigi prides himself, considering it shows his humble origins and that he worked for a living in his younger years.

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.

Real estate business

Becali became a millionaire through an exchange of land with the Romanian Army. The deal consisted in Becali giving the army a 21.5 ha plot in Ştefăneştii de Jos (about 15 km from Bucharest) in exchange for a 20.9 ha plot in Băneasa-Pipera, in Northern Bucharest.[3] As the real estate prices skyrocketed in the capital, he sold the land to some companies which built residential areas.

Ownership of Steaua

Becali joined the General Shareholders' Council of the FC Steaua Bucharest football team at the end of the 1990s, during the presidency of businessman 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.[4]

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.[5] He was however able to avoid paying the taxes by transferring the assets of Steaua to a newly-formed company, AFC Steaua Bucureşti, allowing the old association to go bankrupt.[6] As of 2007, Becali detains no official link to the club, as he gradually renounced his shares in favour of his nephews.[7]

Political career

In the 2000 Romanian legislative election, Gigi Becali has been a candidate of the "League of Italian Communities in Romania" for the seat in the Chamber of Deputies reserved to the Italian minority. He received 16,266 votes (0.15%) countrywide, of which 7,677 in Ilfov County. Nevertheless, he lost to Ileana Stana-Ionescu, who got only 2,943 votes in one constituency. Becali contested the results, but according to Romanian election law, for national minorities, it doesn't matter the total number of votes, but only the person who gains the largest percentage in one constituency gets the seat reserved for that national minority.[8]

He has led the New Generation – Christian Democrat Party (PNG-CD) since January 2004, being its candidate in the 2004 presidential elections, receiving 1.77% of the votes cast (184,560 votes).[9]

In his 2004 electoral campaign, Becali became infamous for using clips of the "Mihai Viteazul" movie (directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu), whose main character was played by Amza Pellea, and with which he identified himself in a flamboyant manner.

In December 2006, he promised that his party would generate a "Cultural revolution" in Romania.[10]

At the elections for the European Parliament, held in November 2007, his party (PNG-CD) obtained 4,86% of the popular vote, little under the 5% needed for admission in the EU governing body.

He recently (2008) 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". Becali and the party he is leading are also allied with the Democratic Liberal Party in Bucharest's local council. The PD-L leaders announced they don't want a National Liberal vice-mayor, but they would rather support one from Becali's party.[11]

Arrest

On April 2, 2009, Gigi Becali was arrested on charges of abducting and coercing into confession a group of people he was informed stole his limousine in late January the same year. Processing the case took more than 2 months, and ironically, the people accused of stealing his limo are still free, and moreover have the legal status of "victims". This has lead many to believe the whole thing is just a diversion, or a political maneuver, as his party was close to enter the Parliament on the last elections, and the Romanian Presidential elections are only months away.

On the same night of his arrest, a 29 days warrant was processed for issuing while dozens to hundreds of people gathered in front of the police station, demanding the release of the Romanian millionaire, claiming all his help towards little people up to this events. Members of his family were among these people.[12][13]. The appeal made by his lawyers was rejected, and it seems Becali will spend the Easter holidays in prison, although there are still legal attempts to get him out until that period, or at least for the 3 days, as Becali is a strong Christian believer, but even this was turned down on April 14, 2009.

Later commenting on his arrest, Becali said "he accepted it with pride", that the convicts are looking at him like at a leader and that he's trying to teach them Christian values. Further on this issue, he sees his arrest as a "penitence from God" for all the enemies he himself has made, and thanks Him for giving him time and seclusion before an important Christian holiday to cleanse himself and his mind from bad.

As a results of these decisions, even old, sworn enemies, like Cristian Borcea (co-owner of the club Dinamo Bucharest, rival of Steaua), have declared themselves stupefied by what they think is a sharade, Borcea declaring at Sport.ro, soon after arriving in the country from a trip, that he feels many will support him and that his club might actually gain in game-play from this. Corneliu Vadim Tudor, also a political rival, declared his sympathy towards Becali's situation and that, in the worst case scenario he'd try to save him from prison as he has succeeded with Ilie Ilascu, putting him on the EuroParlamentary lists to grant him amnesty. A few days later, after talks with his lawyers, Gigi Becali has confirmed he will be candidating, for PRM, on that list. Antena 1 has also presented his case in a favorable manner, bringing Gigi to thank the station's owner, Dan Voiculescu, and his wife for their full support on this matter. Dumitru Dragomir, leader of the Romanian Football League, declared he is from now on scared to even appear on television, and for his freedom, if they could do this to even a millionaire.

Realitatea TV's stand on the issue, that of mocking Becali's situation, and widely known as a station supporting Traian Băsescu, seems to confirm allegations that old political conflicts are behind this arrest. On April 13, 2009, Băsescu has made a public statement in which he denies any involvement in his arrest.

References

  1. ^ July 2009
  2. ^ Gazeta Sporturilor, "Lanţul amintirilor lui Gigi Becali", 16 January 2006
  3. ^ Evenimentul Zilei, "Gigi Becali revine la mahala", 2 March 2005
  4. ^ Evenimentul Zilei, "Gigi Becali deţine 66 la sută din FC Steaua SA" 5 January 2004
  5. ^ Cronica Română, "Gigi Becali a câştigat procesul cu ANAF", May 20, 2006
  6. ^ Chican, Marius; Focşeneanu, Dorin. "Românii plătesc datoriile Stelei". Evenimentul Zilei. http://www.evz.ro/article.php?artid=268867. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 
  7. ^ "Gigi Becali si-a vandut toate actiunile de la Steaua nepotilor sai". http://www.hotnews.ro/articol_34128-Gigi-Becali-si-a-vandut-toate-actiunile-de-la-Steaua-nepotilor-sai.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-06. 
  8. ^ Romanian Chamber of Deputies, "Şedinţa Camerei Deputaţilor din 15 decembrie 2000"
  9. ^ Biroul Electoral Central, "Proces Verbal privind rezultatul pentru alegerea Preşedintelui României"
  10. ^ Cotidianul, "Gigi Becali promite o revoluţie culturală";, 16 December 2006
  11. ^ "PD-L nu vrea viceprimar liberal, ci unul din partidul lui Becali", Ziua, 20 June 2008
  12. ^ News on Pro TV siteRomanian
  13. ^ MediaFax news in English
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