Ex-Spurs defender Popescu admits spying for the Romanian secret police

Published: 02 Jul 2009 - 14:44:20

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Ex-Spurs defender Popescu admits spying for the Romanian secret police

Former Tottenham defender Gheorghe Popescu has admitted being an informer for the communist Romanian government in the 1980s. The 41-year-old, who scored three goals in 23 Premier League appearances for Spurs, had previously denied helping the secret police - the Securitate - under the regime of Nicolae Ceacescu. But he has now revealed that he wrote four notes informing on teammates and other colleagues while he was playing for Universitatea Craiova. He has justified his actions by insisting he had signed a document in 1985 promising to 'defend the national interests' of the late dictator Ceausescu who was executed on Christmas Day 1989. And former Romania skipper Popescu, who helped spy on his team-mates for three years from 1986, added: 'Even if I wrote notes, I wrote good things - I praised (those) people.' Under Popescu, the Romanian national team qualified for three successive World Cups and Euro 2000, defeating England twice in the process. He won a Champions League winners' medal with Barcelona in 1997 and also played for Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven. Brother-in-law of fellow Romania legend Gheorge Hagi, Popescu played 115 times for his country, scoring 16 goals.