[OFF THE POST] It’s been a tough year for European club bosses. Joaquin Bilbao, president of Spanish club Xerez, was arrested last month following a shootout at a brothel and resigned from his position. Now, Gigi Becali, owner of Romanian powerhouse Steaua Bucharest, has been jailed on kidnapping charges.
Around 250 supporters gathered outside a Bucharest courthouse on Monday to demand Becali’s release, shouting “Down with the corrupt justice system!”
Becali, 50, and four of his bodyguards were arrested Friday on charges of kidnapping three men who allegedly stole his car earlier this year. Bucharest police said Becali, Romania’s richest man until the recent economic collapse, and six employees attacked the three men in January, surrounding their vehicle and threatening them with guns before bundling them into the trunk of a car. The three men were then allegedly driven to a village outside Bucharest and left there.