“Chocolate and candies” : Best lie of the week, hands down

May 8th, 2008 | by: Ian Rose | Comments(3)

The Romanian Liga is over, and for the first time ever, CFR Cluj is champion of Romania. But as is often the case in Romania, things are not so simple. Corruption and bribing charges have now officially been filed by DNA, the national anti-corruption department. As a side note, I have no idea what it stands for, but DNA is a great name for an investigative team. Way better than CSI.

Our title today takes a little explaining. The charges stem from the final match between CFR and cross-town rivals Universitatea Cluj, which CFR won 1-0, sealing their title. Apparently, agents from Steaua Bucharest, who finished one point behind CFR, were on hand to take in the match. And they brought with them, as one does, 1.7 million euros. Whether the receptacle for this cash was a briefcase or several cloth bags with Euro signs on them, I don’t know, but if the money was a secret, it was kept badly. So, DNA is claiming that Steaua was ready to pay Universitatea the cash if they could hold or beat CFR, thus putting the championship back into Steaua’s hands.

Here’s the best part, though, the undisputed lie of the week. It comes from Steaua’s owner Gigi Becali, who admits to the money being there, but gives a rather different explanation for it. “I sent them (the four emissaries) to buy chocolate and candies (from Cluj)… I buy what I want. The money is mine and I may send them anywhere I want.”

1.7 million euros. 2.6 million dollars. That’s a lot of candy.