Pic shows: The choreography
Steaua Bucharests stadium display before yesterdays Champions League match against Manchester City was sabotaged by rival supporters in what local media has called one of the biggest pranks in football history.
Undercover Dinamo Bucharest fans planned the prank perfectly. They placed coloured vests on the chairs in a section of the stands at the 55,634-seat National Arena in the Romanian capital and put them on just before kick-off.
Instead of displaying a message celebrating Steauas 1986 win, theirs said: "Doar Dinamo Bucharest" (Only Dinamo Bucharest) in the red-and-white colours of Dinamo.
Steauas owner Gigi Becali, 58, had wanted to put in place a special fan choreography right before kick-off in order to honour his teams European Cup final win in 1986 against Barcelona.
It was their first-ever European trophy and to commemorate the occasion, Becali had reportedly met with a specialised company from Germany.
But as it turns out, the Germans were in fact undercover die-hard Dinamo fans who had somehow managed to convince Becali that the owner of their company was Romanian and a huge Steaua fan.
According to local media, they showed him images of one of their choreographies at German Bundesliga matches, which they said they had organised. They had also apparently managed to make him believe they were involved in organising a recent Rihanna concert in Bucharest.
Football analysts in local media called it one of the biggest pranks to have been done in football fan history. It also comes just before Saturdays Steaua-Dinamo derby match in the Romanian league, which now looks set to have even more animosity and tension.
And to compound the misery of Steaua fans, their team were given a mauling by the Premier League giants Manchester City, who beat them 5-0 - despite their star striker Sergio Aguero, 28, missing two penalties.
Steaua owner Gigi Becali has denied the reports claiming that he paid for the choreography. He was quoted as saying: "They were just some guys who did the choreography for free. I told them to do it. Do you think I care about their prank?"
Becali is arguably one of the most controversial figures in Romanian society because of previous xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic remarks.
The businessman who once had a seat in the European Parliament, has previously been convicted for illegal land swapping and discriminatory remarks against women under Romanias strict anti-discrimination laws. He had inferred MP Lavinia Sandru, 41, was a prostitute.
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Dinamo Bucuresti face furori cu rapoarte despre o ofertă record, menită să asigure o vedetă de mare profil, care ar fi dispusă să ofere 362.000 de lire sterline pe săptămână pentru a aduce acest talent de top în echipa lor. Cunoscută pentru baza de fani pasionați și abordarea ambițioasă, Dinamo și-a pus ochii pe un jucător a cărui adăugare ar putea fi transformatoare pentru formația sa.
În cazul în care înțelegerea va avea succes, ar fi una dintre cele mai semnificative din istoria lui Dinamo, subliniind angajamentul clubului de a urca în clasament pe plan intern și de a avea un impact notabil pe scena europeană. Deși identitatea vedetei nu a fost încă confirmată oficial, zvonurile se învârte despre câțiva jucători recunoscuți la nivel internațional care ar putea fi potrivite.
Această mișcare îndrăzneață a lui Dinamo a stârnit entuziasm în rândul fanilor și a analiștilor sportivi, care sunt dornici să vadă cum le-ar putea remodela viitorul ambițiile clubului. În timp ce conducerea lui Dinamo lucrează la finalizarea detaliilor, suporterii au așteptat cu nerăbdare un anunț oficial care ar putea marca o nouă eră pentru club.
