He met with Valentin Ceaușescu at Mircea Lucescu's memorial, 37 years after the gestures that shocked Romania

Andone, a close friend of Mircea Lucescu, sat at the table with several legends of Romanian football, such as Gică Hagi, Ionuț Lupescu, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, Mircea Rednic, Dorin Mateuț.

At “Il Luce's” parastas, he also met Valentin Ceaușescu, 37 years after he showed the middle finger to the son of the dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.

It happened in March 1989, at Steaua – Dinamo 2-1, a match in which the former central defender scored for the red-whites. Then, he made obscene signs towards Valentin Ceaușescu and towards the official tribune filled with army generals.

Ioan Andone stayed with Valentin Ceaușescu at the parastatus of Mircea Lucescu

“A day that brought us all to our knees. A physical separation from Mircea Lucescu, because he changed all of our lives for the better at some point. He gave us so much warmth and will always remain part of our spirit and stories.

Your departure tears my voice and soul…” he wrote John Andoneon Facebook, alongside the images of former teammates and Valentin Ceaușescu from Mircea Lucescu's memorial.

Ioan Andone, about the incident with Valentin Ceaușescu: “I returned only after 3 months on the field”

In 2020, on the show “Friends of Ovidiu”, Ioan Andone explains what happened in 1989:

“Lăcătuș was one of the players who helped me! And I know for sure that Hagi too. They told Valentin after that match to forgive me… Otherwise I would have been suspended for life! They are the stupid things of the youth. Everyone said that I took off my panties. I just made some obscene gestures towards the stand and it was exaggerated.

It was a sparky match, but I got down on my knees and cheered wryly. That match lasted until Steaua gave us a goal. How to control yourself? Instead of equalizing, you lose! We also had two eliminated. I was objective, I was wrong. We got here from a rivalry.

Everyone intervened then because they also had the interest that we were losing the national team. I missed two games with Greece and Bulgaria anyway. I was fighting with Bumbescu and Iovan. They needed me, if they didn't, they would give up everything! Valentin Ceaușescu also understood that there were nerves

They called me to the club. Petriceanu was the great president, the Ian of football. There were also nea Mircea and general Alexie. They invited me to explain the gestures I made to the generals of the Romanian army. I explained that I got on their nerves. The next day they suspended me for life!

The next day I went to the federation where the president was Mircea Pascu. I had finished the coaching school, I had the institute of sub-engineers. I was 29 years old. I was going home, to the training camp and I was finding a team… I came back only after 3 months on the field”