Prunea vows to fight on
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Article summary
FCM Bacau's Florin Prunea wants to clear his name despite having a ban from football cut from nine to six months.
Article body
Despite having his ban from football reduced from nine months to six months by the Appeals Commission of the Romanian Professional League (LPF) today, FCM Bacau goalkeeper Florin Prunea has pledged to continue to fight to clear his name.
Player protest
The 34-year-old Prunea, who is a vice-president of the Romanian players' union, was punished earlier this month for allegedly making threatening comments to the LPF's president, Dumitru Dragomir, during a protest by the country's Divizia A and B professionals outside the organisation's Bucharest headquarters. The LPF ruled that Prunea had made defamatory comments about Dragomir and other leading officials during various interviews with the media.
Previous misdemeanour
A six-month ban was meted out for insulting officials, with a supplementary three months added as the LPF's Disciplinary Commission decreed it was the second time Prunea had committed such an offence. However, the Appeals Commission today overruled the second punishment, clearing Prunea of any previous misdemeanour and reducing his ban to half a year.
'I will appeal again'
Prunea, though, was not appeased, saying: "I will appeal again. The LPF put a ban on me as a player... but actually they punished me for being a trade union leader and for calling the protest.I will never accept a ban, not even for a minute."
'Proper decision'
His case will now by heard by the Executive Committee of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), and Prunea is confident of a successful hearing. He said: "There are a lot of people who know me on the Executive Committee from the national team, like the FRF president, Mircea Sandu, and Adalbert Kassai, the general secretary. I am confident that they will make the proper decision."
'Minimum punishment'
Yet the president of the Appeals Commission, Iosif Robi Urs, was not taking a reprieve for granted. "Under normal circumstances Prunea cannot escape with a lower sanction than six months because this is the minimum punishment for what he did," he said.
