Romanian ex-soccer chief gets 7 years for evasion, fraud

Romanian starting lineup sing their national anthem prior to the Euro 2016 Group A soccer match between Romania and Albania at the Grand Stade in Decines-­Charpieu, near Lyon, France, Sunday, June 19, 2016. (Pavel Golovkin/AP)

BUCHAREST, Romania — A Romanian court has sentenced the former chairman of the Romanian Professional Football League to seven years in prison for tax evasion, embezzlement, and money laundering.

The Bucharest Court sentenced Dumitru Dragomir on Thursday in a case related to the sale of TV rights for football matches, causing the league total damages of 5.4 million euros ($6.1 million).

He and two others were also ordered to pay damages totalling 13.3 million lei ($3.34 million). The sentence can be appealed. Dragomir denies wrongdoing.

Prosecutors say that from June 2011 until 2013, aided by league board members, Dragomir siphoned off money from the league which was paid into another company. The money was then paid to other companies.

The actions resulted in losses of 2.8 million euros to the league.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.