Szekler-Hungarian ex-football player and coach, László Bölöni, described his disappointment and anger to nemzetisport.hu relating to the xenophobic chants of the FCSB fans and players against Hungary and Transylvanian Hungarians after last week’s Romanian Cup final, which the Bucharest team, formerly known as Steaua, won against Sepsi OSK.
Both teams playing in the 2019/2020 Romanian Cup final last Wednesday are important to the football coach who discovered Cristiano Ronaldo. As a Szekler-Hungarian, whose mother tongue is Hungarian, it is self-explanatory that the Szekler team of Sepsi OSK is special to him. But on the other hand, FCSB is also obviously important to him, as he played on this team for years and was even part of Steaua when it won the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (predecessor to the Champions League) in 1986.
“Two teams close to my soul met, and I am sorry for the stupidity that happened after the match. It has nothing to do with football. What happened is light years away from civilization.
And the fact that players also got involved in such a thing is totally contrary to the principles of a team that used to include Helmuth Duckadam, Miodrag Belodedici, Tudorel Stoica, László Bölöni, Marius Lăcătuş, Victor Piţurcă, and had substitutes such as Imre Jenei or Anton Weissenbacher, and which was supported by fans in the stadium like Lajos Szatmári, Jóska Vígh, Laci Zavoda, Tibi Bóné, and please forgive me if I forgot anybody*… (Editor’s comment: Besides Bölöni himself, Imre Jenei and all the names mentioned among the Steaua fans are ethnic Hungarians.)
After reading what happened, I called the President of the Romanian Football Federation, Răzvan Burleanu, and asked him to explain how such a thing is possible. Obviously, it’s not his fault, but it will be his fault if no consequences will follow! And I’m not thinking about a symbolic fine of 5 or 10 thousand euros, which the owner will pay without any problem, out of his own pocket,” said László Bölöni.
Title image: László Bölöni as the coach of Royal Antwerp earlier this year. (Photo News)
