Gigi Becali

Becali stated that he would leave football if required to establish a women's team and portrayed women's participation in football as contrary to nature and divine will.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Becali and several bodyguards were prosecuted after forcibly detaining men suspected of stealing his limousine. In February 2013, the High Court issued a final judgment sentencing him to three years' imprisonment, suspended.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Public statements attributed to Becali ruled out recruiting a player described as homosexual. The CJEU held that such remarks, made by someone perceived as managing the club, could constitute facts giving rise to a presumption of direct employment discrimination.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The High Court sentenced Becali to three years' immediate imprisonment in a case involving two land swaps with the Romanian Ministry of Defence, transactions the prosecution considered detrimental to the state.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Becali publicly explained that he did not want to recruit French striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle, despite favourable sporting assessments, explicitly referring to the fact that he was Black.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

Attribution

Directly implicated

After taking charge of the New Generation Party, Becali used slogans and references drawn from the interwar Legionary movement and notably called for the canonisation of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. A television channel was sanctioned after broadcasting such remarks.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The CNCD documented several statements by Becali targeting the Hungarian minority, in which he notably demanded the removal of UDMR officials and associated Hungarian investments with a threat to Romania.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated