Former Romanian soccer coach Victor Piturca on Wednesday denied allegations of corruption in connection with the acquisition of medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Piturca, 66, appeared before anti-corruption prosecutors in a probe is linked to non-compliant face masks that were delivered to hospitals run by the defense ministry.
Piturca, is being investigated on charges of helping his son obtain a contract with the Romanian Army for the delivery of 100,000 FFP3 masks to military hospitals.
“This is a big, big abuse,” Piturca told reporters.
PAV Green Energy, which won the contract, was under the ownership of his son, Alexandru Victorio Piţurcă, 38. The protective masks were subsequently found to be non-compliant.
Piturca said he personally financed 90% of the business. “My boy wanted to get into this business and after a few weeks I decided to meet the people who proposed this business to him,”he said. Piturca said he made a half-hour visit to Gabriel Tutu, the general manager of national defense company, Romarm, at his office.
Piturca, his son and Tutiu were briefly detained on Monday and are now under judicial control, meaning their movements are restricted.
Victor Piturca was Romania’s national team coach three times: from 1998 to 1999, then from 2004 to 2009 and finally from 2011 to 2014.
He also coached Steaua Bucharest, Universitatea Craiova and Al-Ittihad.
The former striker was part of the Steaua Bucharest team that won the European Champions Cup in 1986 and the European Super Cup in 1987.
