Survivor star Gabriel Tamas: "They didn't pay my salaries, but I played"
Moments after celebrating a victory in the final of "Survivor" in Romania with a major cash prize, ex-Israeli Premier League player Gabriel Tamas launched a sharp attack against Cluj players complaining about salary delays: "At Astra they didn't pay me for five months and I still played."
Gabriel Tamas, former Hapoel Haifa player and one of the most colorful figures to grace the Premier League in the last decade, continues to make headlines abroad. The veteran defender, currently serving as the sporting director of ASA Targu Mures in the Romanian second division, has launched a sharp attack against the players of the local club Cluj.
The club has fallen into a severe financial crisis, filed for insolvency, and is recording a streak of humiliating defeats, including a 7:1 aggregate elimination from the Conference League by Norwegian side Tromso. In an interview for the "GSP Live" program, Tamas criticized the team's players for their complaints regarding wages:
"They need to stop being mercenaries. When it was good and they went home with full bags, they didn't say a word."
Tamas did not spare criticism when comparing the situation to his own past. "They are not dying of hunger, they earned 20,000 euros, and now what? 'They didn't pay me for 3-4 months'," the defender noted. "At Astra Giurgiu they didn't pay me for five months and I still played."
According to him, the players are looking for excuses for their poor performance, adding that "character is seen in difficult times." Notably, Tamas has a brief and strange history with Cluj, having signed with the club in October 2013 only to leave after six days.
While Tamas claims he left due to grueling training sessions, the club's president at the time, Iuliu Muresan, previously provided a different version: "He arrived, drank, and left. Other things happened that I will not publish."
Meanwhile, Tamas is recording major achievements far from the football pitch. Recently, the former defender took first place in the grand final of the popular reality show "Survivor" in Romania.
The adventure lasted 22 consecutive weeks of physical and mental struggles, during which he overcame 31 contestants, including professional athletes. Tamas received over 30,000 votes from the audience and pocketed a cash prize of 100,000 euros.
After his victory was announced, an emotional Tamas used the stage to settle old scores: "I want to dedicate this prize specifically to those who criticized and slandered me over the years. This is for you." For the player, who recorded 67 appearances for the Romanian national team and played for clubs like Galatasaray and Spartak Moscow, this is not his first television victory; he previously won "Asia Express," the Romanian version of "The Amazing Race."
