BUCHAREST, Romania — For once, the crowds that had gathered to shout and to denounce were not angry at Gigi Becali.

In recent years, Becali, the owner of F.C. Steaua Bucharest, Romania’s most popular and successful soccer team, had become used to being vilified. And not just because he is one of the country’s richest and most controversial characters, one who regularly makes headlines for his negative opinions on women and gays. Since 2011, Becali has also been in a legal battle for control of Steaua — which won the 1986 European Cup, the precursor to UEFA’s Champions League — with a formidable adversary: the club’s former owner, the Ministry of Defense.

It is a dispute that threatens to destroy one of Europe’s best-known teams. It has divided the club’s fans, with the majority boycotting while Becali remains in charge. It has seen Becali lose the rights to the club’s badge and even its name. It has also led to the creation of a new army team, CSA Steaua Bucharest, which is likely to begin play next season in Romania’s fourth division.

Yet over the last few months, as tens of thousands of protesters braved biting winter nights to gather in Piata Victoriei — Victory Square — to demand an end to corruption in public life here, Becali for once was not the target of their ire. In fact, he joined the crowds.