Romanian IRS Will Impound the Soccer Players

Sebastian Bodu, sthe head of the Romanian counterpart of the American IRSt, is pushing ahead with unprecedented moves aimed at making sports clubs pay their debts to the state.

Sources close to Bodu say that he is going to impound soccer players, the trade-mark of the teams or their ranking in the national championship.

The dead-line for soccer clubs to voluntarily pay all their debts was yesterday.

So, the time when fiscal authorities will sell players or rankings in the soccer competition to recoup the money owned by clubs may not be that far away.

Bodu hinted that Romanian fiscal authorities would resort to surprise-moves, but did not elaborate: "I will get back every Romanian leu, you may count on that," he stated.

Bodu also said that he was unfazed by the meeting the Ministry of Finance had with the representatives of soccer clubs in order to reschedule their debt-payments.

"I enforce the existing law. It is not my business to consider the changes to the law being drafted. If the Ministry of Finance will decide tomorrow that fashion models, dancers or soccer players are accountable according to different rules, than I will enforce that law," Bodu said.

However, Bodu said, the laws which allowed re-scheduling of the debt-payments were annulled, upon request from the European Union, which pointed out that they distort the competition.

He stated that he has no personal grudge against soccer clubs and their owners, but will forge ahead with getting all the due-back money. Bodu also explained that the "new" clubs will be held accountable for the debts of the "old" clubs, and so will the teams’ administrators, which will pay with their personal income and wealth. sSome soccer clubs owners, when acquiring the teams, set up new legal persons, in order to get rid of the taxes the "old" teams had to pay.t

Bodu said most of the debts consist of unpaid taxes to players’ income.

So far, only Rapid, Dinamo and Steaua paid part of their debts.

Fiscal authorities also want the money national companies did not pay to state coffers.

One case in point is the National Railways Company, which owes 69.41 million lei ssome 17 million eurost to the state.

"I am ready to sell the Bucharest Railway Station. Interested, anyone?" Bodu stated, sin fact, fiscal authorities impounded plots of land belonging to the Railway Station, not the actual station.t

The plots of land were impounded on 16 September 2003 and will be evaluated to recoup debts with selling them on the free market, fiscal authorities stated in a subsequent press-release.

Traian Preoteasa, director of the National Railways Company, said the company should not pay the "historical" debts. Anyway, it has no money to do that, Preoteasa stated.