Romanian billionaire and former tennis player Ion Tiriac has a challenge for the political class in Romania: he will give one of the luxury planes in his fleet to the politician who manages to build 2,000-3,000 sports halls in Romania, reports local Capital.ro.

Tiriac made a similar bet in early 2000, but at that time his offer was different: a Mercedes car. He lost the bet, however, as the Government led by Adrian Nastase managed to build the 400 sports halls included in the governing program.

“Now I am offering a luxury plane from my fleet to the one who will make 2,000 - 3,000 sports halls in Romania! I will give the plane on the spot, they only have to do the halls,” Tiriac said.

The former tennis player has been making several investments for the Romanian sports, the last of which is related to the construction of a sports campus.

Prime Minister Mihai Tudose said earlier this week that Romania needs an official aircraft for dignitaries. He added that the budget revision scheduled for this fall would show if the state has money for such an acquisition.

Forbes: Richest Romanian Ion Tiriac ranks 1,795 in the world

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com