Football — an islet of liberty in Communist Romania
BUCHAREST: During the communist era, footbal l in Romania provided something of an escape for the people from the iron fist of Nicolae Ceausescu until the dictator’s fall in 1989.
The game, like every other aspect of life in the country, could not escape the close surveillance of the Securitate, the country’s feared secret police.
Nevertheless, from Bucharest giants Steaua and Dinamo to the more obscure outposts of Gloria Buzau and Targu Mures, the appetite for the game was great.
“The stadiums were ful l, people would come to forget their difficulties and unhappiness,” recalls Ion Pîrcalab, a winger for Dinamo in the 1960s.
Ovidiu Ioanitoaia of the sports newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor remembers that football “was the only means of distraction but also the only release” under a regime which controlled every aspect of daily life.
“At the stadium you could shout insults without being afraid” when it was very risky to do the same thing anywhere else.
For the best players, the game also offered the keys to a kind of freedom that was beyond the reach of almost all their fellow citizens: they were able to travel.
To play for Steaua or the national team was for me a great opportunity to see other countries, other ways of life. It is difficult to explain that nowadays, when we are free to travel all over the world.
That was an “unimaginable” privilege for Helmuth Duckadam, the goalkeeper in the great Steaua side that won the European Cup in 1986, beating Barcelona in the final in Seville.
“To play for Steaua or the national team was for me a great opportunity to see other countries, other ways of life,” he told AFP.
“It is difficult to explain that nowadays, when we are free to travel all over the world.”
The possibi lity of playing games beyond Romania, or even playing for a foreign club – as Pircalab, a quarter- finalist at the 1964 Olympics, did when he helped Nimes to second place in the French league in 1972 – did nevertheless mean facing a strict vetting process from the Securitate to avoid any risk of defection.
The famous final in Seville, which could not really go ahead without Steaua having some supporters behind them, represented a real headache for the regime.
Despi te being ca reful ly handpicked and then closely supervised by the secret police, some managed to escape and seek asylum in Spain. Duckadam admits the fact that he was a starter for Steaua, the club of Valentin Ceausescu, the dictator’s son, was by no means any kind of social handicap, especially when performances were good.
“Valentin Ceausescu was a friend of Steaua,” he admits, although he adds: “I don’t think he could have helped us when we were playing Anderlecht or Barca.”
Generally, playing for one of the two big clubs in Bucharest guaranteed the right to stay in the capital – a favour in itself for those who hailed from elsewhere.
The best players were also given comfortable lodgings – another privilege – and a better salary.
“We are not talking about huge amounts, we did not make a fortune but we enjoyed an aboveaverage living,” says Pircalab,
Helmuth Duckadam, former Steaua Bucharest goalkeeper
who remembers earning up to three times the average salary in Romania.
“We were stars, but i f you compare it to the situation today, we were stars that had no money,” Duckadam admits with a laugh.
There was still the glory though, and that does not have a price.
“When I am no longer here, my grandchildren can still be proud of the name Duckadam because I achieved something in my life,” says the goalkeeper who saved four penalties out of four as Steaua won a shoot- out 2- 0 following a goalless draw in that 1986 final against Barcelona. — AFP