Soccer-Steaua owner Becali cuts spending, plans to sell players

BUCHAREST, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest could be forced to sell their top players after owner Gigi Becali showed his frustration with the club's lack of success in Europe this season by cutting his financial support. Steaua went out in the Champions League third preliminary round, losing 5-3 on aggregate to Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade, and suffered a humiliating 3-0 home loss to Norway's Rosenborg in a Europa League playoff first leg on Thursday. Becali said Steaua plan a fire sale of top players, including captain Fernando Varela, Alexandru Chipchiu and Adrian Popa, to trim costs and would release Algerian midfielder Aymen Tahir with immediate effect. "I have to fire some players," Becali told reporters. "I'd sell the club but nobody wants to buy it. Who is the idiot to give one million euros ($1.14 million) a month for Steaua? Nobody!" Steaua coach Mirel Radoi told the players he was quitting following the Rosenborg defeat but Becali persuaded him to change his mind following a heated conversation on Friday. "I had a long chat with Radoi and I convinced him not to leave," Becali said, outlining plans to cut player wages. "We'll negotiate a new contract with (last season's Romanian league top scorer Gregory) Tade and other players. We have to cut their salaries a bit. "Radoi told me it is worth keeping Tahir but I am the owner and I have my standards. He'll leave... You can't do anything with him, we'll find him a new club" Becali, who was released from jail on parole in April after serving a third of his sentence of three years and six months for multiple crimes, also said he would forbid Ghana midfielder Sulley Muniru from attempting any more dribbling. "Who is he to attempt dribbles Messi, Maradona or Suleiman the Magnificent? He'll never try another dribble in his life, you'll see," said the 57-year-old, who served in the European Parliament between 2009 and 2012 before resigning to take his seat in the national assembly. Becali, a flamboyant former shepherd, is a well-known figure in the Black Sea state because of his reputation for straight talking and charity actions for the poor and local Orthodox churches. The 1986 European Cup winners Steaua, the most successful Romanian club with 26 league titles and 22 national cups, are sixth in the standings with 10 points from seven games. ($1 = 0.8798 euros) (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Ken Ferris)