CNSAS: Gica Popescu did not collaborate with the former Securitate

The National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) announced on Tuesday that Gica Popescu, Romania’s once international soccer player, ex- PSV Eindhoven, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, Galatasaray, US Lecce and Hannover 96, did not collaborate with the former Securitate, Romanian TV channel Antena 3 informs. Several weeks ago, there were rumours in the press accusing Popescu of collaborating with the communist Intelligence.

According to the information on his collaboration, Gica Popecu’s conspiracy name was Petrescu and was meant to bring data from the matches his team from Craiova had, especially abroad. Gica Popescu’s house was allegedly used for secret meetings of Securitate officers.

CNSAS took the accusations apart one by one. The final verdict: Popescu was not collaborator of the ex-Intelligence services.

„Gica Popescu only wrote positive notices. He never wrote against anyone. He even defended some people. He notes do not come against human rights”, CNSAS member Cazimir Ionescu stated.

„We were sportsmen and not anything else. We did not write, we played, other people wrote. Check the dossiers of the people, who insinuate, check Steaua’s football club owner dossier, to see what he’s done. Let’s end this rubbish once and for all,” Romanian football legend Gica Hagi declared after learning the accusations Gica Popescu was subject to.

On July 3, Gica Popescu came to CNSAS to see his Securitate dossier. „I believe that back then, since they did not have anything from me, Securitate officers wrote those notes in my name. There are too many notes in that dossier for me to remember having written them,” Popescu defended himself after the scandal started.

Two other ex-sportsmen on the Securitate collaborators’ list are Ladislau Boloni and Rodion Camataru. The both firmly denied the accusations.