Tică Danilescu, one of the most important leaders in the history of Romanian football, told a tense moment at the end of the 80s, in which Gică Popescu and Valentin Ceaușescu, the son of the former dictator, were involved.
In the 1988-1989 season, Gică Popescu played for Steaua Bucharest in the second part of the championship. He had been brought temporarily from the University of Craiova to join the army, which was mandatory at that time. Initially, the defender accepted the situation, but after finishing his military training he returned to Craiova and decided not to stay at Steaua.
This choice created big problems for him. In the context of the time, the refusal to continue at the Bucharest club was considered a serious act, and Popescu was declared a “deserter” by the army. The situation became even more serious when members of the Ceaușescu family, especially Valentin Ceaușescu, who supported Steaua, intervened. Gică Popescu was threatened with arrest, and the security authorities were also involved in the case.
“He didn’t sign anymore. I went to Craiova after him!”
Tică Danilescu, who was an official of Stela for several years and won numerous trophies with the club, said that he personally went to Craiova to try to convince Gică Popescu to return to Steaua, the team that had won the European Champions Cup in 1986.
“I took him when he was for incorporation, he came to Steaua for a year while he was with the army. When he finished the army, he said that he would sign, that he does, that he drags, and he didn’t sign again. And he went to Craiova. I went to Craiova after him.
We talked about this before, I called Valentin from Craiova and told him he didn’t want to. Valentin was very angry that I disturbed him, he was at a tennis court, playing tennis and I disturbed him.
He said: “I’m not interested anymore, don’t come!”. So he basically only wanted the Star when he was in the military!“said Tică Danilescu, according to Un Podcast.
Gică Popescu spoke about the difficult episode, which happened 37 years ago
About six years ago, Gică Popescu returned to that tense moment and explained step by step what happened then, revealing the huge pressures he was subjected to and the difficult context of that period.
“I was a soldier in the term, I spent two months at the garrison with Zamfir and Crișan. Before the winter holidays they let us go home. I was heading towards Calafat, I was in the car with my father, when the Militia car stopped us, and the people there said: “Come on, the first secretary, Traian Ștefănescu, wants to talk to you at the Multipurpose Hall!”.
Ștefănescu came, in the back, in a room, and told us in the following way: “Gică, there is a lot of pressure on me to give you permission to go to Steaua”… “I will let you go to Steaua during the army period, but promise me that you will return at the end of the military internship”. «Yes, Comrade First Secretary. How can I not… I’ll go, finish the army, then return to the University».
“An arrest warrant had already been issued in my name!”
In the summer of ’88, as soon as the season ended, I went to Calafat, on vacation, to my family. The night before I left Calafat, I said to my family: “Do you know something? I think I’m staying at Steaua!”. Dad went crazy! “Hey boy, are we making fun of ourselves?! We are a serious family! You promised that man, you must return to Craiova». The next morning, when I left, I left my mother crying against the post of the Calafat gate, my father didn’t even greet me.
The next morning, at 5:00 a.m., the day I started the preparations with Steaua, I left for Craiova. There were 300 people at the club and they couldn’t believe it when they saw me. An arrest warrant had already been issued in my name!
As a sergeant major, an employee of the military club, I was a deserter from the Romanian Army! I trained alone with Tîca Zamfir in Govora, then we hid in Bulgaria. I also went with the team to a tournament in Petroșani and in the evening, while walking, they came to arrest me… I managed to escape! I was hiding the whole time!”explained Gică Popescu, according to gsp.ro.
How the conflict between Valentin Ceaușescu and Gică Popescu ended
After the scandal, Gică Popescu returned to Craiova University and continued her career there. Tensions gradually eased, and the situation was completely resolved a few months later.
In the fall of 1989, after Romania’s victory over Denmark, score 3-1, a match that ensured qualification for the 1990 World Championship, Gică Popescu received the forgiveness of Valentin Ceaușescu. After that moment, the conflict between the two was considered closed.
“He told me: “If we beat the Danes, I’ll forgive you!”. And there are images from after the 3-1 victory, Valentin grabbed me by the neck and said: “I forgave you”. He could cause me a lot of trouble back then!“the former Barcelona captain also said.
