| 08. Section 08 deals explicitly with the allegations of age fraud and the falsification of passports and official documents. There are eleven interviews/articles presented. a. Original date of publication: March 28, 2002 in ‘Evenimentul Zilei’. The recent scandal that came down on Romanian gymnastics has shown the ugly side of this sport. To become a champion at competitions, the gymnasts have to go through a true ordeal. Thousands of hours of hard training, combined with isolation during preparation. These negative aspects from the life of a gymnast of the national team were only discussed in private but very rarely did it come out in the press. Aurelia Dobre was the first one who revealed her life experiences to the press when she was a member of the national team during the eighties: deprivation, starvation and beating. Here's a passage from the interview that Aurelia granted in 1991, to a Dutch journalist, Hans van Wissen from the newspaper 'De Volkskrant'. Later, the article appeared in the magazine 'International Gymnast'. "I started gymnastics at the age of 6, at the age of 9 I already trained about 6 hours a day. When I was 12, I was selected for the national team and I moved to Deva. The program there was very well balanced: 8 hours of training, sleeping and dieting. In Deva, the worse thing was the hunger. It wasn't starvation because of a lack of food. Back then, other Romanians would have been jealous of our conditions. Maintaining the weight of only 40 kilos made 'normal eating' a sin. No matter how young we were, the trainers would slap us if we took some 'extras'. The officials of the Federation told everybody that we had a really good school education but in reality, it was nothing! The lessons that we got were more political ones," said the gymnast, and Celestina Popa and Camelia Voinea (at the moment she's a coach in Constanta) joined the discussion too. "My world title (in 1987 in Rotterdam) was a big surprise for me. It would have been nice if I could have changed it for more freedom and for a different life. Besides gymnastics, I don't know anything," confesses Aurelia, adding: "They stole my childhood! We were soldiers in duty for the country. Some slaves! You were only free when you won the biggest trophy but as soon as I got off the rostrum, I was a slave again." Camelia Voinea and Celestina Popa acknowledge that the trainers and the leaders of the Federation confiscated the money they won at international competitions. "At the World Cup in 1986, Camelia Voinea, Aurelia Dobre and Ecaterina Szabo won 10.000 dollar. When we returned home, they took the money from us with the argument that it was dangerous for us, a couple of kids, to have that much money! At another competition, in Rome, I received an envelope with 1500 dollar. Trainer Maria Cosma and Maria Login (head of the Federation at that time) refused to give it back to me. They took everything and we only got an ice cream." Aurelia Dobre discovered that the Federation was falsifying the age of gymnasts; one of the cases was multiple medal winner at the Seoul Olympics, Daniela Silivas, trainer in America at the moment. "To be able to participate at the World Championships in 1985, they altered her age. They made her two years older." Celestina Popa confesses that she was made older too. "Sometimes, when I was asked how old I was, I didn't know what to answer. To tell them my real age, that was one year younger, or the age in my passport that the federation gave to me." Nicolae Vieru, leader of the Romanian Federation since two decades, partially acknowledged aspects of Aurelia's disclosure yesterday. "In Aurelia's period, 1983-1987, I wasn't with the Federation, I replaced Maria Login. She was a true communist! They did have school in Deva. It's not the best, but you can't do two things equally well, and be a good athlete, and go to school a lot. The gymnasts only learnt the basics: Math, Romanian, History, Geography and a foreign language. That's how it goes, the performance asks a lot of sacrifices," says the President of the Federation. Vieru denies that the trainers and leaders took the gymnast's money. "Login was a fanatical communist, schooled in Moscow. However, I don't think she took the money from the children, nor did the trainers. I don't believe the part about the falsification of the passports is true either. It's true that there have been some attempts. I even appealed to such an 'arrangement' but some of the ministers didn't want it! They did it everywhere in the communist world. The Chinese are artists in something like that. One single case has been traced up until now, a gymnast from North Korea, [Gwang Suk Kim]" declared Nicolae Vieru yesterday. b. This article appeared originally in ‘Prosport’ on April 11, 2002. Gina Gogean: "How old I was? Ummmm, why?" To be able to compete in 1992 at the Worlds in Paris, at the Europeans in Nantes and at the Olympics in Barcelona, gymnast Gina Gogean had a year added to all the official documents. This was the political procedure before 1989, as Aurelia Dobre confessed in 1991, being the first Individual World Champion in the history of Romanian gymnastics. Nobody could have imagined, however, that these practices continued. Now there's no doubt left. The Romanian Gymnastics Federation has forged documents after the Revolution too! In Gina Gogean's case, the adjustment was done because, in 1992 gymnasts under the age of 15, couldn't compete in the senior competition. The Worlds, Europeans and Olympics were getting close. Gina promised to be a big star, but she hadn't reached the age of 14 yet! So, they invented a new date of birth for her, 9 September 1977, instead of 9 September 1978, her true date of birth. She competed under false pretences and won 3 medals at the Europeans and a silver medal with the team at the Olympics. She became one of Romania's most decorated and loved gymnasts, but for the rest of her life, her age will be a lie. More over, to protect her daughter, even her mother maintains that she gave birth to her a year earlier! There is, however, up until today, a place in Romania where a hidden document was kept. Prosport arrived at Cimpuri, in Vrancea, where Gina was born. There, the birth certificate was photographed. 9th September 1978 was written on it. This is the authentic date of birth of Gina Gogean! The rest was created by a system, the drama of a gymnast who was made a year older and the disappearance of the 'purity' of one of the few sports which Romanians never doubted for a second. Nicolae Vieru, president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation: "I have been with the Federation for 35 years and I have never heard of anything like this. They even do an age test at the competitions, with the passports in their hands. What follows afterwards doesn't matter. Gina Gogean? I don't know! I haven't seen her certificate." Octavian Belu: "What can I remember after 10 years? And if it's true, what would be the problem? It's not my job as a trainer to handle the identity cards or passports of the girls. The Federation deals with that, not me! I don't ask the gymnasts how old they are. I have no idea when they are born. What sense is there in digging up the dead?" Cimpuri is a village that appears to never end. The proud mayor Dumitru Vladescu explains: "It's 10 km from one end to the other. It's the longest community in Romania. Without knowing, he gives a helping hand in the discovery of a not so honorable truth about the past of the symbol of the village. After he hesitates for a second to reveal the birth certificate of Gina Gogean, he plucks up the courage in the end and disappears into the records office. He returns smiling, holding a green file on which is written: 'Birth certificates 77-78'. The records of births for these 2 years in Cimpuri weren't many. Between the covers, held together with two bands, are the birth certificates. The mayor looks through them and stops satisfied at the one belonging to Gina Gogean. "This is it. You can photograph it." The surprise is incredible. The date of birth is 9 September 1978, exactly one year later than the one on the documents that Gina Gogean presented at the competitions. The Federation did this fraud so that Gina could take part in the senior competition a year earlier. In 1992, when the gymnast made her debut in senior gymnastics, the age limit by the FIG was 15 years old. The rule is that a gymnast reaches the required age in the year that the respective competition takes place, even if the date of the competition, is previous to the birthday. The age limit in the year 70-80 was 14, after that 15 but in 1997, the FIG has risen the age to 16. In 1992, Gina Gogean turned 14, a year too young for the age limit and nevertheless, she participated at senior competitions through a trick of the officials of the Federation who made her a year older. In April 1992, Gina went to the apparatus World Championships in Paris. After that were the Europeans in Nantes (in 1992 too), where she won her first medals: a gold on floor and two silver, one in the individual competition and one on vault. The reason why the Federation falsified the documents was probably the Olympics in Barcelona (25 July- 9 August 1992); the gymnast finished 5th on vault and 6th in the individual competition but she won silver with the Romanian team. 1992 was kind of a good year for Gina Gogean, but she didn't have the right to participate at any of the three competitions mentioned above! Gina's true age was never known by the FIG. It remained hidden in a green file, thousands of kilometers from Barcelona, Atlanta, Paris and Sabae, the places where Gina Gogean competed and won medals. Phone conversation with Gogean The former gymnast says that her age wasn't falsified and says that she was eligible to compete at the competitions in 1992. Q: Hello, Gina? A: Yes. Q: Can we talk? A: Yes, but it could be that my batteries will run out. Q: You participated at the Olympics in Barcelona in '92. Do you remember how old you were then? A: (hesitates) Ummmm, why? How old I was? I was 14 going on 15. It was the year that you could compete at 14 if you turned 15 that year. I was going to be 15 in September and the Olympics were in August. Q: What year were you born? A: 1977 Q: We have your date of birth as '78 on your birth certificate. A: I'll show you that my birth certificate and all my papers have 1977 on them. 9 September 1977. That's my date of birth. You have written about me so many times and even now you don't know how old I am, in which year I was born? When I'll come, I'll bring my birth certificate with 1977. I'll also bring my id card and my passport. Q: In 1992, you were 14 going on 15. A: Yes. That was the rules then. The age limit was 15. Q: We have your certificate from Cimpuri. A: I have the one from Cimpuri too. I don't know where you were and what you have done that you made this mistake! Q: In case it is '78, you weren't allowed to compete in 1992. A: (becomes nervous) Gosh, I don't understand why you are interested in this?! I was 14 then and going on 15, I'll show you all the papers, other than that, what can I tell you. I'm sorry, I can't talk anymore, I've gone into a shop. We'll talk another time. Gina's mother, Anica Gogean: "I don't know, who gave you this information? I'm really sorry but I have the birth certificate too. So... I don't know what you're talking about. I have the certificate from 1977. So I don't know when my child was born?" Nicolae Vieru: The president of the Federation says that in Romania gymnasts' ages were never falsified. Q: Mr. Vieru, was there any time that the age of a gymnast was falsified so she could take part at an international competition? A: There was a single case. A Korean gymnast, she was caught at the Worlds in Stuttgart in 1989. A year later, North Korea was suspended from all international competitions. Q: There's talk of Romanian gymnasts. A: Ummmm, no sir! I don't know anything about something like that. Q: So, in Romania there hasn't been a similar case? A: No. But how could one prove this? Who goes through tenths of files? Q: Who from the Federation knows the ages of the gymnasts? A: We, but in the first place Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang. The trainers are up to date about the date of births and other things. They present the passports before a competition. That is the conclusive document. Q: Prosport got hold of Gina Gogean's birth certificate in which is written clearly that she was born on the 9th of September 1978 but at the competitions it was 1977. A: (Agitated) I don't know this. I haven't seen it. Q: Actually, there's a years difference. Is it possible that something like that was done? A: I don't know. Who knows? I haven't seen her certificate. The valid document on International level is the passport. What can I say? You say it was in 1978? Q: Isn't it carelessness in this case? That one thing is written on the certificate and another on the passport.... A: Like I say, the thief who hasn't been caught...is an honest merchant. I don't know, she knows better. Her passport isn't with the Federation. Q: Aren't you afraid that when they prove this fraud, they could take measurements against the Federation? A: What measurements can they take? (Laughs) I answer to the regulations of the FIG. Nothing is stipulated in this sense. c. Original publication date: April 12, 2002 in ‘Monitorul de Brasov’. Yesterday, the reporters of Monitorul contacted Gina's mother, who maintains her story that Gina was born on 9 September 1977 and that "everything that has been written, is a shameless lie." Unfortunately, aside from a simple declaration, Gina's mother couldn't show us the birth certificate of her daughter, saying that it was in Cimpuri. The investigation of Monitorul didn't stop there. In the official documents of the Register of Population in Focsani, Gina Gogean seems to be born on 9 September 1977 but the real date is on the birth certificate in Cimpuri, 9 September 1978. The mayor Dumitru Vladescu said: "They from Prosport lied to me when they came to Cimpuri. They wrote in the paper that they had my permission when they made a copy of the certificate but that's not true. They have lied to me saying that they wanted to make a documentary about Gina Gogean's life and I accepted this thinking that it was for a good cause. They have blemished her name. They are a bunch of liars and they should be ashamed." The Editor of Prosport said: "We thank the mayor for his help. He doesn't have to be scared. He has done a good thing, because the fraud in sport needs to disappear. The effects on the gymnast’s body are dreadful. Small children are set to work in a regime of adults, they get ill, they take medicine or are operated on and they carry these traces along with them for the rest of their life. These things have to stop." Gina Gogean: "I have said from the beginning that I was born on 9 September 1977 and I don't understand why the people from Prosport are making such a hubbub about this subject. When Romanian gymnastics achieved exceptional results on world level, we were only mentioned in the short news in the papers or on TV. Now, with this shameless lie, some papers try, to become more popular by writing about scandals, destroying a sport system that has been formed with a lot of soul and professionalism. Nobody is obligated to show their identity card except to law authorities. What has made me very angry is the fact that they who wrote the incriminating article, managed to get hold of my birth certificate, saying to the mayor of Cimpuri that they were going to make a film about Gina Gogean. I am mad that in this so-called scandal, my parents were pulled into it without a choice and have been made out to be liars for the simple fact that they told them my right date of birth, 9-9-1977. I'll continue to mind my own business, I'm not interested at all about what they will probably write in other papers too and like I have always done when I represented Romania, I won't make a laughing stock of myself. I'm happy that in my life as a gymnast I have won a lot of European, World and Olympic titles, that they played the national anthem for me so many times and I am not ashamed of anything and about anything that I have achieved up until this moment." d. Article originally appeared in ‘Gazeta Sporturilor’, April 18, 2002. Gazeta Sporturilor is the first newspaper that managed to talk to the general secretary of the FIG, Norbert Bueche, who says that the ones who forged the documents of the gymnasts, will not be treated mildly. "We are dealing with serious discoveries and the FIG won't treat these accusations lightly. The decision of the FIG could go as far as withdrawing the results of the gymnasts who competed under false pretences and even a disqualification of the Romanian team at the respective competitions. Monica Zahiu's age was falsified with one year too, former member of the national team, multiple national champion and silver medallists with the Romanian junior team at the Europeans in 1995, Monica was born in 1982 but on her passport the date stated 1981. Like Alexandra Marinescu and Daniela Silivas, Monica had the courage to admit to the fraud: "It was at the end of 1994, when I was notified by Eliza Stoica and the leaders of the Federation, Mr. Vieru and Mr. Stoica, about their intentions of changing my age. They told me that they were planning this for the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta, where they planned to let me compete under false pretences." Sadly enough, Monica didn't make it to the Olympics; her body gave up because of all the rigorous training at such a young age. NOTE: As of March 2003, no disciplinary actions have been taken by the FIG (International Gymnastics Federation). e. Article originally appeared in ‘Prosport’, April 18, 2002. After Gina Gogean and Alexandra Marinescu, the next gymnast to admit that her age was falsified is Daniela Silivas, who, in 1985, came onto the gymnastics scene in full force by winning the beam title at, seems now, the fragile age of just 13. Daniela left Romania after the revolution and moved to Atlanta in America in 1991 where she works as a manager of Hammond Park Gymnastics and as a trainer at Modern Gymnastics at Marietta, a suburb of Georgia. In Atlanta, she has her real birth certificate which states that she was born on the 9th of May 1972, and not 1970 like it is stated in her false passport used to enter the Europeans and World Championships for seniors in 1985 where she won three medals: bronze on floor at the Europeans in Helsinki, and silver with the team and gold on beam at the Worlds in Montreal. The only gold medal won by Romania at these World Championships. In all the official documents registered at the FIG, the multiple European, World and Olympic champion seems to be born on the 9th of May 1970! Most gymnasts retired after the Olympics in LA in 1984, so there was a huge gap between generations. The Federation had to fill up the gap and found a solution: age falsification and Silivas was sent to Helsinki at just 13 years old. In 1987, when she was legitimate to compete, she won the European Championships in 1987 in Moscow, in the lion’s den, and she won 4 gold medals, AA, bars, beam and floor and a silver on vault. She went into the Worlds in Rotterdam as the clear favorite but a little slip off beam during the team competition, ruined her chances. Still, she managed to win bronze in the all-around, gold on bars and floor and she won numerous medals at the Worlds in Stuttgart in 1989 and at the Olympics in 1988. She retired in 1990, due to the fact that the training centre in Deva closed after the Revolution and she didn't want to start training with different trainers but also because of her knee injury. During the apparatus finals on beam at the Worlds in Stuttgart, after her dismount, her knee locked. Dana was in tears. She could hardly move but coach Adrian Goreac did everything possible to loosen it all up again and with success as she went on to win gold on floor. She had her knee operation in France, returned back to Romania and then decided to move to America. She has a boyfriend, Scott, who is specialized in sport management and they plan to marry soon. Prosport phoned Daniela, who was just getting out of bed at 7.30 in the morning, and asked her when she was born. She laughed and joked, "Doesn't anyone know in Romania?" and then she admits she was born in 1972. In the year 2000, she asked for an international birth certificate from the town hall in Deva, as she needed the document in America. After explaining about the revelations of the last couple of days about Gina Gogean and Alexandra Marinescu, Daniela says that she can imagine that they were made older too. Did they ever ask her permission to adjust her age? She laughs. "In 1985, who would ask me for permission? I was 13 years old then. Who would tell me that they would change my age?" Everything seemed to happen after the Olympics in LA. "Yes, that was the problem. A lot of girls retired that year. There weren't [enough] gymnasts with the required age and there were medals to be won so they resorted to this method. To the question how she was treated by the trainers she answered: "As in the communist days. I had a difficult life, but..." Was she ever beaten? "Yes, and I thought that this training method would change. The methods of Bela Karoly have remained however." Do you still remember the most terrible hit that you got from a trainer? "There were many and I don't like thinking about these things. It seems that it's a major scandal in Romania". So this year you'll be 30 Daniela. "Yes, and I don't lie about it anymore. Time passes by quickly. In 3 weeks I'll be 30. That's life. Important is that I work with children and that keeps me young." Lucica Silivas confirmed that her daughter was born on the 9th of May 1972. "Why wouldn't I know when my child was born?! I can't hide her date of birth. Daniela's brother was born in 1969; he's two years older. The trainers knew but nobody asked us if we agreed or not. I have heard that the same thing happened to other girls, but I think that everything was done in favour of the country. Daniela applied to the town hall for another certificate that was given to her with her true date of birth written on it. The Frenche Press Agency, followed by thousands of other papers, wrote the following line about Romanian gymnastics: 'Fraud, violence and deliberately starving gymnasts.' All of this was being discussed as the method that Romania used in women's gymnastics to get to the top. A Romanian journalist is writing a book about Alexandra's life. Alexandra tells how she was locked up in her room for three days and was only given water to drink, in order to lose weight. She confesses that sometimes she and her teammates, among them Lavinia Milosovici and Gina Gogean, were slapped and hit because they didn't perform up to par in the training. f. Original article appeared on April 19, 2002 in ‘Gazeta Sporturilor’. Head of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, Nicolae Vieru, will leave for Geneva to try and 'calm down' Bruno Grandi, President of the FIG. In the meantime, the desperate attempts to hush up all the revelations are starting to look ridiculous. The officials of the Federation are trying to point the finger of blame at everybody, especially the press. Vieru: "I'll tell President Grandi how full of praise the Romanian papers are. This scandal is horrible and I think that it is being supported from outside. Nobody from the Federation is able to falsify passports. I don't feel guilty at all. If, at the general meeting I am replaced from my function, so be it. Anyhow, I won't resign because I don't get paid. The gymnasts, who have given all these statements, can argue with the media or other forum themselves. They can, for all I care, go and demonstrate on the street. I haven't received any complaints from the parents of the gymnasts who say that they have false documents. I'll tell you, the world has had it with gymnastics! But I'm not going to hang myself for that." g. Original article appeared on April 19, 2002 in ‘Prosport’. Asked whether the Ministry for Youth and Sports will start an investigation about the age falsification, Minister Georgiu Gingaras said: "The more waves we will make around this subject, the more Romania's image will suffer. I want to see what can be done from now on and not dig up the past. Important is that we do something so this won't happen anymore because, just like in a case of doping, the athletes are the ones who suffer. Up until now, the Ministry for Youth and Sports didn't get involved in this case. I have asked my employees to work on an ordinance that would oblige all athletes, especially gymnasts, to present a copy of their birth certificate and a statement on one's own responsibility, both of them authenticated at a public notary, to prove their age." h. This article appeared in the April 24, 2002 edition of ‘Prosport’. Romanian President Ion Iliescu has honored Nicolae Vieru, President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation by awarding him the National Order of "Faithful Service as Knight". This honor was proposed by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Georgiu Gingaras, motivated by Vieru's upcoming 70th birthday on the 21st of April. Reason: "For the long and productive activities as leader of the Federation, as well as for everything he undertook to promote gymnastics as trainer and international judge." Apparently, the proposal to honor Vieru was made about a month ago. Wasn't there a huge scandal about false passports, false birth certificates and age falsification going on at that time but at the Ministry for Youth and Sports they are worrying about Vieru being honored? The only one who thinks that awarding Vieru at this time is a blunder is Dan Popper, the Secretary of the Romanian Olympics Committee: "Ion Iliescu has some unskilled and irresponsible advisers. Nicolae Vieru has done a lot of good things for Romanian sports, but this wasn't the moment to congratulate him. You don't honor somebody who is in the middle of a scandal." The National Order for Faithful Service was re-established in 2000 and includes 5 rankings in order of importance: Knight, Officer, Commander, Ranking Officer and Big Cross, the last one is attributed to the President of Romania. So, now Vieru has received the same order of honor as Dan Grecu, the head coach of the men's gymnastics team, who was awarded after the Olympics in Sydney, while at the same time, Octavian Belu and Mariana Bitang had been awarded with a higher ranking, that of Officer! i. This interview appeared in the publication ‘Adevarul’ on April 27, 2002. German Klaus Lotz, the president of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) is the most important man in European gymnastics at the moment. Adrian Macarie thought it would be very interesting to see what his opinion about the current situation in Romanian gymnastics is and set up this interview. Q: Mr. Lotz, what do you think about the fact that the senior Romanian women's team didn't take part in Patras? A: I don't know too much about it, but when this kind of decision is made, it proves that there's a serious motive and that I, as president of the UEG, have to accept it. Anyhow, nobody from the Romanian Gymnastics Federation came up to me to tell me what the reason was and nobody has explained a thing to Mr. Dimitropoulos, the vice-president of the UEG and from the Organization Committee of the European Championships held in Patras. They aren't obliged to do so, but it would have been appreciated because I learnt through the press, that the Romanian team has injury problems. Q: You are probably up to date with the recent scandals in Romanian gymnastics. What does the UEG think about the falsification of the passports of those four gymnasts? A: I don't know if I can tell you a lot because as far as we are concerned, as organization, we verify the passports of the gymnasts and if a gymnast has a passport issued by the Romanian authorities, the Government of Romania, we have to believe that it's valid because if we don't have faith in a minister, in a Government, then who do we have faith in? Anyhow, when these things happen and are confirmed, then it's a bad case. As far as I'm concerned, I'm very disappointed in the Romanian Federation because it's an influential Federation with a big impact in gymnastics. Q: What can the UEG do in this case? A: In the first place we need somebody from Romania to inform us precisely about the situation. Only from Romania we can receive a complete file that we could use for the future too, because we want to take care, not only of the Romanian gymnasts, but of every gymnast. Anyhow, we didn't know that they could find registrations of birth and birth certificates so now, that we know about this, we will propose to the FIG that, from now on, they should check the passport and the birth certificates. Q: As far as the Romanian Federation concerned, could we expect drastic measures? A: It's a very delicate situation for Mr. Grandi, the President of the FIG, because one of the vice-presidents is Mr. Nicolae Vieru, the President of the Romanian Federation. Besides, we have had problems with the Romanian Federation before and at the Olympics in Sydney. It's certain that it won't be an easy problem for Mr. Grandi. At the moment, however, we have to wait for proof from Romania, to see what the situation is and to try and find out the truth. If it's proven that it's true, we will take drastic measures, just like we have done in Rhythmic Gymnastics when we have suspended gymnasts, doctors and officials. Q: In Romania, at a given moment, they said that these practices of falsifying passports happen all over the world, not only in Romania. Do you know anything about this? A: Unfortunately, it seems that this happens in countries in South-America and Asia too; it's not only a problem of the Romanians. j. From the May 1, 2002 edition of ‘Ziua’. Yesterday, after the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Romanian Olympic Committee (ROC), general secretary Dan Popper declared that nobody can be punished in the case concerning the falsification of the documents of the gymnasts, because according to the law, the statue of limitations has expired. The ROC official referred to article number 289 in the Criminal Code, that states that the offence of intellectual fraud can be punished with a jail sentence between 6 months and 5 years, but according to article 122, paragraph d, in the same Code, it states that in case of a jail sentence between one and 5 years, the statue of limitations is 5 years. "In this case, all the athletic structure has a certain blame, however, we can't go back in the past. Anyhow, I'm sure nothing like this will happen anymore from now on, at least not in the Romanian Olympic sports. According to the law, the statue of limitations has expired, so indifferent to how you look at the problem, there's actually no one who can be held responsible," stated Popper. The Members of the Executive Committee showed their confidence that women's gymnastics could pick up again until the Olympiad in Athens, where Romania could win medals. Adrian Stoica, general secretary of the Federation assured us that their goals set for the Olympics, will be accomplished," continued Popper. Ion Tiriac, the president of the ROC, agreed and said that from his point of view, the case is closed: "Starting with the FIG and ending with all the other organizations, this was a common practice in the world of sports. This shouldn't have been allowed to happen. Although these things were predominant in the former communist countries, according to my information, it happened in many other countries too. As long as I will be president of the ROC, these kind of things won't happen again!" k. From the May 1, 2002 edition of ‘Prosport’. While he kept on denying all the accusations before, in a phone conversation during a television broadcast, Nicolae Vieru admitted about the fraud but said that he copied the practices of other countries when he falsified the ages of gymnasts and said that these practices were done world wide. So, in other words, if somebody steals a loaf of bread, you do it too? |