Gâlcă punished Dobre for challenging his tactics, but bet on Keita, investigated for fatal accident and fleeing the scene
Article by Maria Olteanu, Carmen Dumitru – Published on Sunday, 19 April 2026, 21:53 / Updated on Sunday, 19 April 2026 21:55
In an all-or-nothing match for Rapid, Costel Gâlcă made two surprising decisions when making the starting team for the trip from Craiova, from the 5th stage of the play-off: he punished Alex Dobre, the one who challenged his tactics, and instead appointed Kader Keita, investigated after causing a fatal accident!
For the trip from Craiova, Gâlcă kept his promise and took the armband off his arm Alex Dobre the one who had a nervous exit when he was substituted, the previous round, after only 60 minutes, in the match with FC Argeș.
Dobre was also vocal in the interview after the match and challenged the coach's tactics, and Gâlcă did not sit for the discussions and removed him from the first 11.
Surprisingly, however, Gâlcă decided to start Kader Keita, a first in the last 7 rounds for the player who hit a woman on the pedestrian crossing, then ran away from the scene of the accident.
Galce punished Dobre, but rewarded Keita, investigated for a fatal accident
“Regarding Dobre's statements, from my point of view he made a very serious mistake, especially since he is the captain of the team. Yes, I said well: he was the captain of the team, he is no longer. We all had a meeting, he said what he had to say, and so did I. I trusted him, but I think I made a big mistake,” said Gâlcă before the match in Craiova.
And that's exactly what happened. Dobre was left without the armband, which ended up on Onea's arm, and the former captain remained a reserve.
In the first 11, however, he made his appearance Kader Keitafor the first time in the starting team after causing a fatal accident.
He played the last match as a starter in the 27th stage of the regular season, in the 1-3 failure with Farul, on February 15, 2026.
On March 3, 2026, he caused an accident right on the pedestrian crossing, while returning from prayer. Initially, Kader Keita was placed under judicial control for 60 days, during which he was allowed to play football, being free. On April 7, however, his victim died at the hospitalso now the case framing will change, from bodily injury to manslaughter.
According to GSP.ro, next week, on Tuesday and Wednesday, he will be heard to change his classification and be tried for manslaughter.
Until then, however, Keita was started in the match on “Ion Oblemenco”, for the first time after causing the tragedy. During all this time, he was used by Gâlcă twice, from the reserve position, in the matches with CFR Cluj (0-1) and FC Argeș (0-0).
