Romania coach Victor Piturca has been handed a suspended one-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting controversial Steaua Bucharest owner George Becali in a high-profile corruption case in the Balkan country, the supreme court said.

Piturca, 57, was found guilty for his role in the case that was instigated in 2008 following a criminal inquiry by Romania’s Anti-Corruption Department (DNA) when four people were detained in a Cluj restaurant in possession of €1.7 million.

The DNA accused Becali of trying to bribe players from Universitatea Cluj “to do anything possible” to draw or beat CFR Cluj, Steaua’s main title rivals at the time.

Cluj beat Universitatea 1-0 to win the league by a single point from Steaua Bucharest.

Piturca attempted to divert attention away from the match-fixing case when he claimed he had seen a document which said Becali had paid a large amount of money to buy land.

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