Radio România Internațional

Tag: Championship

  • Sports weekend

    Sports weekend


    Romanian League One’s final configuration for the
    upcoming season has been decided on Thursday. In the promotion/maintaining playoff
    tie, FC Voluntari outclassed Dunarea Calarasi. We recall that in the second leg
    of the tie FC Voluntari trounced Dunarea on home turf, 4-nil. Scoring for
    Voluntari were the Czech Lukas Droppa, the Spaniard Jefte Betancor, Igor Armaş and
    Cosmin Achim, who turned a penalty kick into a goal. In the first leg in
    Calarasi, Voluntari also emerged as winners, 2-1. In the previous season,
    Dunarea came in 4th in according to the Second league’s Group1 rankings. FC
    Voluntari came in 7th according to League One’s Group 2
    classification. On Wednesday and also in a League One playoff fixture, CS
    Mioveni secured an aggregate win against FC Hermanstadt, with a 2-1 away win in
    Medias and a blank draw at home. In the previous season, CS Mioveni came in 3rd
    according to League Two’s Group1 rankings. Mioveni are the first second-tier
    team to have won a promotion/maintaining playoff tie in League One. We recall
    that so far, only League One teams have had the upper hand in such confrontations. At the end of the season, FC
    Hermannstadt have been relegated to League Two. Politehnica Iasi and Astra
    Giurgiu, two bottom-of-the table teams in League One, have also been relegated
    to League Two. The Second League’s first two teams in descending order, FCU
    Craiova and Rapid Bucharest, have been promoted to League One.


    The headline-hitting event at the weekend is the
    friendly match pitting the national squad of Romania against England. The venue
    of the game will be a stadium in Middlesbrough in England. The Brits are still
    preparing for the European Football championship, which is drawing near. We
    recall that our national squad failed to qualify to the event. Ahead of the
    friendly against England, the Romanians are trailing a recent unnerving, 1-2
    defeat by Georgia behind them. Georgia is 91st-placed according to the world
    rankings. Sports media at home has heavily criticized the national squad’s
    below-par run in the match against Georgia. Head-coach Mirel Radoi also came under
    fire for the faulty way in which he prepared the team and composed the starting
    lineup. A satisfactory result in England could ease the tension that has occurred
    among the team and among board members of the Romanian Football Federation, where
    president Razvan Burleanu as of late has been highly contested because of the
    National squad’s disappointing results in recent confrontations.











  • May 23, 2021

    May 23, 2021

    COVID-19 The PM of Romania Florin
    Cîţu said the vaccine rollout must be stepped up so that the relaxation
    measures planned for the forthcoming period may be implemented as soon as
    possible. Several vaccination marathons are held this weekend in various
    towns in the country, and drive-thru centres are operational. Since the end of
    December, nearly 7.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in Romania,
    with more than 3.1 million people receiving the booster dose as well.
    Meanwhile, the number of new Covid-19 cases in Romania continues to drop, with
    307 new cases reported on Sunday out of nearly 18,500 tests. This is the lowest
    number in nearly 11 months. In hospitals, the number of coronavirus patients in
    intensive care is 590. Also, 56 COVID-related deaths were reported for the past
    24 hours.



    COUNCIL The president of Romania Klaus Iohannis takes part on Monday and Tuesday in a special European Council meeting to be held in Brussels. According to the presidency, the head of state will plead for quick and consistent implementation of the digital green certificates at European level, but will reiterate that these must not affect citizens freedom of movement. Iohannis will also call for a European mechanism to be put in place as soon as possible to ensure vaccine donations to non-EU countries. The main topics on the agenda of the European Council are the EU-wide coordination of COVID-19 measures, fighting climate change, and the Unions relations with Russia and the UK.



    MIGRANTS Romanian border police in Borş Sunday found 30 Syrian and Iraqi nationals trying to cross the border illegally into Hungary. According to the police, the migrants, aged between 3 and 34, were hiding in a truck registered in Turkey, with a Turkish driver, heading for France.



    EUROVISION The Italian band Maneskin won the 65th edition of the Eurovision song contest, held this year in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, under strict COVID-19 containment measures. Italys victory, the 3rd in the history of the country and the first since 1990, took place in a gala attended by only 3,500 people. The public had to produce negative COVID-19 tests and to wear face masks. Romania failed to qualify into this years Eurovision final. Over the years, Romanias best performances in this competition were two 3rd places (in 2005 and 2010) and a 4th place in 2006.



    MIDDLE EAST The UN Security Council Saturday called for full compliance with the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in its first statement since the conflict broke out on May 10, AFP reports. The Security Council members welcome the ceasefire signed on 21st May and acknowledged the major role played by Egypt and other countries in the region. Since the start of the crisis on 10 May, at least 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and Hamas fighters, died in Israeli attacks, whereas in Israel 12 people died, including a child.



    FOOTBALL The football club Universitatea Craiova won Romanias Cup after defeating Astra Giurgiu away from home 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night. This is the 8th trophy of this kind for Universitatea. Meanwhile, CFR Cluj won its 4th consecutive football championship on Tuesday night, defeating FC Botoşani 1-0, away from home in the 9th round of the League I playoffs. CFR has won the national champions title 6 times before, and will be the only Romanian team in the Champions League. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • April 21, 2021

    April 21, 2021

    COALITION Ioana Mihăilă, state secretary with the Health Ministry, has been nominated by USR-PLUS to be the new health minister, after the Liberal PM Florin Cîțu dismissed Vlad Voiculescu last week. Previously, the leaders of the right-of-centre ruling coalition in Romania had reached an agreement ending the tensions that followed the unexpected dismissal of Vlad Voiculescu. They signed an addendum to the governing protocol, stipulating among other things that the prime minister is to inform the relevant political party of his intention to exercise his constitutional power to dismiss a cabinet member. The COVID-19 vaccine rollout remains a priority for the government and the coalition, reads the document signed on Tuesday night.




    VACCINE President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he was quite satisfied with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Romania. ‘We are very close to our targeted capacity of 100,000 people vaccinated per day. I am very happy with how the campaign has unfolded so far, and the preparations for this stage have been completed in record time,’ the president said. Mobile vaccination centres are operational in Romania as of Wednesday. So far the vaccination capacity is over 80,000 doses per day, and a total of over 2.7 million people have received at least one dose. In this context, the head of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination Coordination Committee, Valeriu Gheorghiţă, announced that authorities are considering the option of giving vaccines in non-COVID hospitals for patients with chronic diseases. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, 3,006 new COVID-19 infections were reported, and the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic is now over 1 million. More than 26,600 COVID-related deaths have also been reported so far, 175 of them in the last 24 hours, and 1,436 patients are in intensive care.




    CORRUPTION The Senate of Romania Wednesday greenlighted criminal proceedings against the former health minister Florian Bodog, at the request of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate. Anti-corruption prosecutors claim that while a minister, the Social Democratic Florian Bodog took steps to ensure that one of his personal advisers was paid for one year without showing up for work or actually fulfilling his obligations as an employee. Meanwhile the Liberal PM Florin Cîţu approved the resignation of Gelu Puiu (PNL) as a state secretary with the Environment Ministry, after an independent publication, ʹRecorderʹ, made public recordings pointing to a blackmailing campaign coordinated by Puiu and aimed at replacing county forestry managers with members of the Liberal Party that had no qualifications for the job.




    TRIAL Former Minneapolis police Derek Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday on all 3 charges brought against him after African-American George Floyd was killed last year. According to AFP, the sentence may be out in 8 weeks. The defendant may be sentenced to 12.5 years behind bars, although the judge may decide to increase it if there is evidence of aggravating circumstances. Tuesdays ruling is seen as a landmark in the US racial history and as a criticism of the treatment given by the police to African Americans, the international media note. According to Radio Românias correspondent in Washington, after the ruling the US president Joe Biden addressed the nation, describing systemic racism as “a stain on the nation’s soul and mentioning that the killing of George Floyd entailed protests unseen in the country since the 1960s. Derek Chauvin, 45, was filmed kneeling on Floyd, 46, for over nine minutes during his arrest last May.




    HANDBALL Romanias womens handball team plays tonight away from home, in Skopje, the return leg against North Macedonia in the playoffs for the 2021 World Championship. On Saturday in the first leg the Romanians beat their opponents 33-22. Romania has taken part in all the 24 editions of the womens World Championship so far, and has won 4 medals (gold in 1962, silver in 1973 and 2005, and bronze in 2015). In the latest season of the World Championship in 2019, in Japan, Romania came out 12th.




    FOOTBALL Romanias football team will play in Group B of the Tokyo Olympics, alongside New Zealand, South Korea, and Honduras, according to the draw that took place in Zurich on Wednesday. The group matches are scheduled between July 22 and 28. The Olympics football tournament in Tokyo ends on August 7. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • March 30, 2021

    March 30, 2021

    VACCINE Over 6,200 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Tuesday in Romania, out of 30,000 tests. A record 1,405 patients are in intensive care, and 175 people died. The total number of infections since the start of the pandemic in Romania is over 946,000, and the death toll is 23,400. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout continues in Romania, with some 2 million people having received at least one dose so far and nearly half of them having also got the booster. The vaccination rate is expected to reach 100,000 people per day in April, PM Florin Cîţu said. New measures are in place to contain the epidemic. In areas with infection rates above 4 per thousand, a weekend curfew is in place between 8 pm and 5 am, and shops must close at 6 pm. Where the infection rate is over 7.5 per thousand, these measures are applied throughout the week.



    PROTESTS The capital Bucharest and other cities in Romania saw large-scale protests against the Governments COVID-19 containment measures for the second consecutive day on Monday. The participants chanted anti-government protests, burnt face masks and protested what they called a “medical dictatorship. PM Florin Cîţu said that after a year of restrictions, citizens have the right to protest, but they must do so in compliance with the law. Some rallies spiraled into clashes towards midnight, with 12 gendarmes injured slightly in Bucharest. A total of 188 people were escorted to police stations. The Bucharest Prefect Alin Stoica emphasized the restrictions will not be dropped because of the protests.



    PANDEMIC Leaders of more than 20 countries, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the WHO director, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, call for a new international treaty for the handling of future pandemics. In an opinion article run around the world, Covid-19 is described as the biggest challenge facing the global community since WW2. The authors commit to providing universal and fair access to vaccines, diagnostic and treatment, until the whole world is safe. However, leaders of major G20 members, including the US, Russia, China, Japan, India and Brazil, have not joined the initiative. Over 128 million people have caught the novel coronavirus around the world, of whom nearly 103 million have recovered and at least 2.8 million died.



    ECONOMY Romanias consolidated budget deficit reached some 2.6 billion euros, accounting for 1.14% of the GDP in the first 2 months of this year, as against 0.33% in January and 0.73% in the corresponding period of 2020. The finance ministry blamed the record figure on the exceptional expenditure entailed by the coronavirus pandemic. This years budget deficit target is 7.16% GDP.



    SUEZ After nearly a week of efforts, the Egyptian authorities managed on Monday afternoon to free the container ship stranded in the Suez Canal, with traffic to be fully restored in the next few days. About 450 ships had been stuck because of the incident. In Bucharest, the National Sanitary-Veterinary Authority announced steps were taken to give priority to the 11 Romanian vessels carrying livestock. The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean and is the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia. Around 12% of the worlds trade takes place through this waterway.



    FOOTBALL Romanias Under-21 football team plays tonight against Germany in Budapest, in a decisive match in the 2021 European Youth Championships Group A. On Saturday Romania beat Hungary 2-1, after a previous draw against the Netherlands, 1-1. The European Championships group stage ends on March 31, with the top 2 teams in each group moving up into the Final 8 tournament, scheduled between May 31 and June 6. Meanwhile, Romanias senior national team takes on Armenia in Yerevan on Wednesday, in Group J of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. So far Romania lost to Germany but defeated North Macedonia. The group also includes Iceland and Liechtenstein. The top team in each group qualifies into the 2022 World Cup, with the runners-up facing each other in playoffs. Romania last took part in a World Cup in 1998, in France. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week


    A double
    Romanian-Danish Champions League women’s handball confrontation was held late
    last week. On Saturday in Group A, CSM Bucharest grabbed a 28-26 home in
    against Team Esbjerg, while in Group B on Sunday, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea grabbed a
    26-25 win against Odense Handbold, away from home. So CSM are 4th-placed
    in Group A, while SCM Ramnicu Valcea are 6th placed in Group B. Both
    teams stand a real chance to move past the League’s group stage. The top scorer
    in the two games was Cristina Neagu, who scored no less than 7 goals for CSM
    Bucharest. Reason enough for Radio Romania to designate Cristina Neagu the
    Athlete of the week.


    Cristina Neagu was born on August 26, 1988 in
    Bucharest. She made her debut with School Sports Club number 5. As a junior
    athlete, Neagu was designated the world’s best handballer several times, beginning 2005. We recall that back then Romani’s national squad walked away
    with the silver medal at the European Under-21 championships in Austria.
    Cristina Neagu was signed up by Rulmentul Brasov in 2006. She then played for
    Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea. In 2010 Cristina Neagu reached as far as the Champions League finals with Oltchim. SCM Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea was dismantled and Cristina Neagu got
    signed up by Buducnost Podgorica, with which she won the Champions League in 2015.
    Cristina Neagu has been playing for CSM Bucharest since 2017.


    Cristina Neagu has been the captain of the national team since 2016. Her record with the national squad includes a bronze medal
    won in the European Championship jointly hosted by Denmark and Norway in 2010,
    and another bronze medal won in the World Championship in Denmark in 2015. In
    2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, the International Handball Federation designated
    Cristina Neagu the world’s best handballer. Neagu thus became the world’s first
    ever handballer in history to have won the trophy four times.


  • Athlete of the week

    Athlete of the week


    A double
    Romanian-Danish Champions League women’s handball confrontation was held late
    last week. On Saturday in Group A, CSM Bucharest grabbed a 28-26 home in
    against Team Esbjerg, while in Group B on Sunday, SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea grabbed a
    26-25 win against Odense Handbold, away from home. So CSM are 4th-placed
    in Group A, while SCM Ramnicu Valcea are 6th placed in Group B. Both
    teams stand a real chance to move past the League’s group stage. The top scorer
    in the two games was Cristina Neagu, who scored no less than 7 goals for CSM
    Bucharest. Reason enough for Radio Romania to designate Cristina Neagu the
    Athlete of the week.


    Cristina Neagu was born on August 26, 1988 in
    Bucharest. She made her debut with School Sports Club number 5. As a junior
    athlete, Neagu was designated the world’s best handballer several times, beginning 2005. We recall that back then Romani’s national squad walked away
    with the silver medal at the European Under-21 championships in Austria.
    Cristina Neagu was signed up by Rulmentul Brasov in 2006. She then played for
    Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea. In 2010 Cristina Neagu reached as far as the Champions League finals with Oltchim. SCM Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea was dismantled and Cristina Neagu got
    signed up by Buducnost Podgorica, with which she won the Champions League in 2015.
    Cristina Neagu has been playing for CSM Bucharest since 2017.


    Cristina Neagu has been the captain of the national team since 2016. Her record with the national squad includes a bronze medal
    won in the European Championship jointly hosted by Denmark and Norway in 2010,
    and another bronze medal won in the World Championship in Denmark in 2015. In
    2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, the International Handball Federation designated
    Cristina Neagu the world’s best handballer. Neagu thus became the world’s first
    ever handballer in history to have won the trophy four times.


  • Romania, a good run at the European Gymnastics Championship

    Romania, a good run at the European Gymnastics Championship

    Once a great power in European and world competitions, Romanian gymnastics has seen a decline in recent years. This is why the joy brought by Romanian athletes to gymnastics fans late last week can be translated into the hope that Romanian gymnasts will return to top places in international competitions, as it had been the case ever since 1976, when Nadia Comăneci got the first 10 in the history of this sport, at the Montreal Olympics.



    This past weekend for the first time in 6 years, the national womens gymnastics team went to the podium at the 33rd edition of the European Championship.



    On Saturday in Mersin, Turkey, the team made up of Larisa Iordache, Daniela Trică, Antonia Duţă, Silviana Sfiringu and Ioana Stănciulescu won the silver. First came Ukraine, and third–Hungary.



    The competition continued on Sunday with the apparatus finals for both juniors and seniors, and medals continued to come. The leader of the senior team, Larisa Iordache (24) won the gold in the beam and floor finals and the silver in vault. Her performance is particularly outstanding as it comes after a 3-year break, during which the athlete underwent surgery. In an Instagram post at the end of the competition in Turkey, the several-times European and world champion Larisa Iordache said “it is never too late to follow your dream… all you need is an impulse for the strength within you to surface. And we should not forget the beam final, where Silviana Sfiringu won the silver as well.



    Adding to the seniors performance are the medals won by the juniors: 6 gold medals in all the events (team, all-around and apparatus), 2 silver medals for Maria Ceplinschi in the all-around and floor final, and one bronze for Andreea Preda on beam.



    But the rising star at the Mersin championship was junior Ana Bărbosu, who won 6 gold medals—with the team, in the all-around and all the apparatus finals, a record for Romanias participation in the European Gymnastics Championships.



    However, we should keep in mind that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes from only 14 countries attended this 33rd edition, with European gymnastics powerhouses like Russia, France, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands skipping this years championship. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • December 19, 2020 UPDATE

    December 19, 2020 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The 466 Romanian Deputies and Senators elected on December 6 Saturday started the procedures for taking over their seats and forming the new Parliament. President Klaus Iohannis convened the first meeting of the new legislative on Monday, December 21st. Representatives of the future right-of-centre ruling coalition Saturday continued their negotiations on the governing programme, after having announced on Friday night an agreement on the distribution of key positions in the new parliament and cabinet. Specifically, the coalition agreed that the Chamber of Deputies speaker position will be held by the Liberals, and the Senate speaker post will go to the USR PLUS Alliance. The PM designate will be the incumbent finance minister Florin Cîţu. The Liberals will get 9 ministries in the new cabinet, USR PLUS – 6, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, 3. The latter 2 parties will also appoint 2 deputy prime ministers. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party, which came first in the general election, insists that the fair solution in the current circumstances is a government of national union, headed by Alexandru Rafila, who represents Romania at the World Health Organisation. The Social Democratic president Marcel Ciolacu said his party will never endorse a government made up of the National Liberal Party, USR PLUS Alliance, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which, he says, keeps Romania in an ongoing crisis.



    COVID-19 5,158 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Saturday, out of nearly 25,800 tests conducted across the country. Another 188 COVID-related deaths were also reported, taking the total death toll to 14,296. 1,274 patients are currently in intensive care. Since the start of the pandemic, nearly 588,000 cases have been reported in Romania, over 493,000 of whom have recovered. President Klaus Iohannis warned that until enough people have received vaccines, all restrictions must be complied with. Containment measures are to remain in place during the winter holidays.



    COMMEMORATION Romania continues to commemorate the heroes that died in the anti-communist Revolution of December 1989. Timişoara celebrates on December 20th Victory Day, when the city was declared free from communism. The uprising first started in this western Romanian city 31 years ago, on December 16th. The following day, the dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu ordered the use of lethal ammunition against street protesters. On December 19, to cover the massacre, the communist authorities implemented the so-called Operation “Rose, with bodies taken from the Timişoara morgue to be incinerated in Bucharest. The protests in Timișoara, which left around 100 dead and some 350 wounded, were the spark that led to the collapse of the Ceausescu dictatorship a few days later, in one of the most violent revolutions in south-eastern Europe.



    PANDEMIC India reported on Saturdayover 10 million coronavirus cases, the 2nd-largest number in the world. The US, the worst hit country, as of this weekend has a second vaccine ready for delivery, the one produced by Moderna, which is easier to ship and store than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The European Medicines Agency announced a decision on the Moderna vaccine is scheduled on January 6, while the Pfizer one will be approved next week. Meanwhile, tough restrictions are announced in Italy during the winter holidays. Restaurants and bars will be closed between December 24 and January 6, and so will most shops, except for 4 days. People will be allowed to receive only 2 guests at home, and as of Monday all citizens entering the country have to be quarantined for 14 days. Britain also introduced strict anti-COVID measures after a surge in infections, possibly caused by a coronavirus mutation.



    SPORTS Romania won the silver medals in the European Artistic Gymnastics Championship held in Mersin (Turkey), on Saturday, after they held the best place in Thursdays qualifications. Romania was outperformed by Ukraine, which won the gold. Third came Hungary. On Sunday, Romania will have competitors in all the apparatus finals, with star gymnast Larisa Iordache qualified in 4 finals (beam, floor, uneven bars and vault). Ioana Stănciulescu will compete in the vault final, Silviana Sfiringu in the beam final and Irina Antonia Duţă in the floor event. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    Romanias womens handball team sees its participation in the European Championship hosted by Denmark at the end. The Romanians came out 12th out of 16 teams, which is the weakest performance for the team in a European championship, with 0 points in the main group stage.



    Romania started out in Group D, with a defeat from Germany 19 – 22. The subsequent win against Poland, 28 – 24, was the only one in this European championship edition, but it was enough to take Romania into the main groups. The last match in Group D ended with a clear defeat, 20 – 28 against Norway.



    In the Main Group II, Romania played 3 matches only to lose all of them: 20 – 25 against Croatia, 24 – 26 against Hungary and 24 – 35 against the Netherlands. In the last match, with nothing left to fight for, the managers of the Romanian team decided to spare their top player Cristina Neagu the effort, so the disastrous score came as no surprise.



    The next matches in the competition are scheduled for Friday. In the match for 5th place, Russia is taking on the Netherlands. The semi-finals will be pitting France against Croatia and Norway against Denmark. The final will be played on Sunday.



    In mens handball, this Sunday CSM Bucharest are playing at home against the Turkish side Spor Toto, in the return match of the EHF European Cups 3rd round. In the first leg in Turkey, CSM won 33 to 27, which gives the Romanian side better chances to move up into the 8th-finals of the competition, in which another Romanian team, Minaur Baia Mare, is already qualified. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    Romanias womens handball team sees its participation in the European Championship hosted by Denmark at the end. The Romanians came out 12th out of 16 teams, which is the weakest performance for the team in a European championship, with 0 points in the main group stage.



    Romania started out in Group D, with a defeat from Germany 19 – 22. The subsequent win against Poland, 28 – 24, was the only one in this European championship edition, but it was enough to take Romania into the main groups. The last match in Group D ended with a clear defeat, 20 – 28 against Norway.



    In the Main Group II, Romania played 3 matches only to lose all of them: 20 – 25 against Croatia, 24 – 26 against Hungary and 24 – 35 against the Netherlands. In the last match, with nothing left to fight for, the managers of the Romanian team decided to spare their top player Cristina Neagu the effort, so the disastrous score came as no surprise.



    The next matches in the competition are scheduled for Friday. In the match for 5th place, Russia is taking on the Netherlands. The semi-finals will be pitting France against Croatia and Norway against Denmark. The final will be played on Sunday.



    In mens handball, this Sunday CSM Bucharest are playing at home against the Turkish side Spor Toto, in the return match of the EHF European Cups 3rd round. In the first leg in Turkey, CSM won 33 to 27, which gives the Romanian side better chances to move up into the 8th-finals of the competition, in which another Romanian team, Minaur Baia Mare, is already qualified. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    Romanias women handball team found out its opponents in the main group stage of the European Championship hosted by Denmark. Romania is scheduled to play against Croatia on Thursday, against Hungary on Monday, December 14, and one day later against defending world champions the Netherlands. They were all part of Group C, in which Croatia came out first, followed by Hungary and the Netherlands. Romania goes into Main Group 2 with no points, after it lost to Norway and Germany, the teams in Group D that moved up.



    At this championship in Denmark, the Romanian Cristina Neagu became the first player to reach 250 goals scored in the history of the European competition. Neagu scored for the 250th time in Mondays match against Norway. Romanias left back started the European championship with 237 goals, and now she has reached 253.



    Neagu was already the top scorer in the history of the European Championship in the 2018 edition, when she broke Hungarian Agnes Farkass record of 205 goals scored between 1994 and 2002.



    Named the worlds best player by the International Handball Federation in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, Neagu is not in best shape at EURO 2020, after having tested positive for COVID-19 last month.



    She still has the fastest throw in the tournament, at 129 km/h. She also has the second-best number of assists, 615, after her teammate Cristina Laslo, with 624. And she is Romanias top scorer in Denmark, with 16 goals in 46 throws, accounting for a 35% rate. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • RRI Sports Club

    RRI Sports Club

    Romanias women handball team found out its opponents in the main group stage of the European Championship hosted by Denmark. Romania is scheduled to play against Croatia on Thursday, against Hungary on Monday, December 14, and one day later against defending world champions the Netherlands. They were all part of Group C, in which Croatia came out first, followed by Hungary and the Netherlands. Romania goes into Main Group 2 with no points, after it lost to Norway and Germany, the teams in Group D that moved up.



    At this championship in Denmark, the Romanian Cristina Neagu became the first player to reach 250 goals scored in the history of the European competition. Neagu scored for the 250th time in Mondays match against Norway. Romanias left back started the European championship with 237 goals, and now she has reached 253.



    Neagu was already the top scorer in the history of the European Championship in the 2018 edition, when she broke Hungarian Agnes Farkass record of 205 goals scored between 1994 and 2002.



    Named the worlds best player by the International Handball Federation in 2010, 2015, 2016 and 2018, Neagu is not in best shape at EURO 2020, after having tested positive for COVID-19 last month.



    She still has the fastest throw in the tournament, at 129 km/h. She also has the second-best number of assists, 615, after her teammate Cristina Laslo, with 624. And she is Romanias top scorer in Denmark, with 16 goals in 46 throws, accounting for a 35% rate. (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • November 24, 2020

    November 24, 2020

    COVID-19 Romanias anti-COVID-19 vaccination strategy has been finalised and will be endorsed by the Supreme Defence Council in the forthcoming period, President Klaus Iohannis announced. He added, after a meeting with healthcare experts, that an action plan has been put together and all official information concerning the vaccination campaign will be posted on a separate website. Over 7,750 new COVID-19 cases and 196 related deaths have been reported over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to over 10,370. Since the start of the pandemic, at least 430,000 people have tested positive for the virus, more than two-thirds of whom have so far recovered. Over 1,200 patients are currently in intensive care.



    PANDEMIC The WHO welcomes the announcement regarding a 3rd anti-COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Oxford University jointly with AstraZeneca. The British researchers say the vaccine is at least 70% efficient, but that, depending on the treatment scheme, the protection rate can reach as high as 90%. Pfizer jointly with BioNTech and Moderna had previously announced efficiency rates of over 90% and of 95% respectively for their vaccines. So far 59 million people have tested positive for Sars-Cov-2 worldwide, with the global death toll standing at nearly 1.4 million. In Europe, France and Britain are planning to ease restrictions for the winter holidays.



    BUDGET The Government of Romania Monday approved the 3rd budget adjustment this year. More funds have been earmarked for healthcare and agriculture. PM Ludovic Orban said the adjustment was required in order to cover the expenditure incurred with the Covid-19 pandemic, with the increased pension benefits, flexible working hours and furlough payments and with the balancing of local budgets. The adjustment also helps financing public investments, the finance minister Florin Cîţu said in his turn. The main elements underlying this adjustment are a budget deficit standing at 9.1% of GDP and a negative 4.2% growth rate.



    CORRUPTION The National Anti-Corruption Directorate is working on a corruption-related criminal case in Sibiu (central Romania). Prosecutors are investigating the awarding of a contract for 2 modular hospital units for Covid-19 patients in the Sibiu County Hospital. During this springs state of emergency, the County Council paid some 1.2 million euros under this contract. The units, with 35-bed capacity and the necessary equipment, were opened in October. The Sibiu County Hospital and Public Healthcare Directorate are under military management as of recently. Sibiu County has the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the country, and several places in the county, including the capital city, are under lockdown.



    HANDBALL Romanias womens handball team are preparing for the European Championship hosted by Denmark between December 3 and 20. Romania is playing in Group D in the final tournament, alongside Norway, Germany and Poland, with the games taking place in the town of Kolding. Denmark is the sole host of the tournament after the second designated host, neighbouring Norway, pulled out. On November 16, only 17 days before the first game was due, Oslo announced that healthcare constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic prevent it from organising the competition. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • September 19, 2020 UPDATE

    September 19, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 Romanian authorities have reported another 1,333 coronavirus infections out of over 23,000 tests, as well as 42 new deaths. The number of patients in intensive care is 461. Since the start of the pandemic, the total number of cases in Romania is 111,550. Of them, 89,119 have recovered, and 4,402 died. The European Commission recommends extensive testing to identify COVID-19 cases as quickly as possible, and suggests a common strategy across the EU. Brussels has included Romania in a list of 6 countries where testing is based on a priority system because of inadequate testing capabilities. 18 member states use a compulsory testing system, whereas other countries encourage voluntary testing.



    PROTEST A protest was held in Bucharest on Saturday, against the protection measures introduced in schools in the new academic year. The participants oppose all healthcare recommendations, including face masks and physical distancing, and dismiss the studies that prove the efficiency of these measures and even the risks posed by the COVID-19. Gendarmes warned the protesters that they were breaking the rule banning outdoor events attended by more than 100 people during the state of alert, and reminded them of the obligation to wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from each other.



    ELECTIONS The Central Electoral Bureau has made a number of decisions to be implemented in next Sundays local elections in Romania. Among other things, a ballot will be considered valid even if the stamp exceeds the margins of a specific rubric in the form, provided that the voters choice is clear. Also, a person may vote even if the electronic monitoring system warns that the person in question has already voted. However, the person must sign a form acknowledging that if found guilty of voting fraud, the sentence is prison or a fine. In the September 27th ballot, Romania will elect 41 county council presidents, some 3,200 mayors, over 1,300 county councilors and over 40,000 local councillors. The local election, originally scheduled for June, was postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic, and local elected officials had their terms extended by half a year. Special voting rules in be in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The next election in Romania is the parliamentary election scheduled for December 6.



    CLIMATE Romanian farmers must adapt quickly to the effects of climate change. A new farming season has started this month, following a long drought, and weather experts warn that such periods will be increasingly frequent. In a statement for Radio Romania, the head of the National Meteorology Agency, Elena Mateescu, said farmers should replace sowing technologies, focus on plant species that are resistant to higher temperatures and have shorter growth periods. Also, Elena Mateescu argues, the farming calendar should be delayed. According to official data, around 1 million hectares of crops have been destroyed by drought this year.



    MARATHON Around 1,500 people, both children and adults, are taking part in the 5th edition of a marathon entitled Black Sea 24-hours Autism, held in Romania this weekend. The race started at the same time in around 100 locations in the country. The competing teams are running for a humanitarian cause in their local community. The routes—beachers, forests, parks—are monitored by judges and the data are centralized by the organizer of the competition, the Black Sea Psychology Centre in Constanţa (south-eastern Romania). The minimum requirement is to complete 100 km, with each km rewarded with a specific amount of money. This year the money will go not only to children with autism spectrum disorders, but also to other causes, such as building a home for a single mother of 6, supporting day care centres and buying school books for children with disabilities.



    TENNIS The Romanian Simona Halep, number 2 in the world, Saturday qualified into the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Rome, after the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (30 WTA) retired. Also on Saturday, Raluca Olaru (Romania) and Anna-Lena Friedsam (Germany) moved up into doubles final, having outplayed the Japanese Shuko Aoyama / Ena Shibahara. The tournament in Rome is held without a live audience, and competitors have to observe strict rules to prevent coronavirus infections.



    ATHLETICS The Balkan Association of Athletics Federations, jointly with the Romanian Athletics Federation, organise this weekend in Cluj-Napoca (north-west), the 73rd Balkan Outdoor Athletics Championships. Taking part are Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Turkey, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine. Romania is represented by 64 athletes. (translated by: A.M. Popescu)

  • New decisions in Romanian football

    New decisions in Romanian football

    An emergency committee of the Romanian Football Federation decided on Thursday, after online consultations with the members of the Executive Committee, to increase the number of teams playing in League I from 14 to 16, starting the 2020-2021 season. Consequently, no team will be demoted this summer.



    The decision rescues the Bucharest club Dinamo, ranked one but last at the end of this years championship matches. The team was in this situation because COVID-19 cases among its players prevented them from playing as many as 5 games, and the championship was suspended on August 6 with all teams preserving their places in the standings, irrespective of the number of matches played.



    The team in last place, Chindia Târgoviște, will face the third-ranking team in League II, CS Mioveni, in a playoff. The top 2 teams in League II, UTA Arad and Campionii FC Argeș, will move up into League I. The president of the Romanian Football Federation, Răzvan Burleanu, explains the new decision:



    Răzvan Burleanu: “What this means, first of all, is that no team will be relegated from League I. there will be no direct relegation. Also, given that the League II teams completed their competition, they have the right to move up, and this right will be protected, with 2.5 teams from League II moving into the top league. In other words, the team ranking 3rd will have to compete for promotion. There will be a playoff round for the place in League I, pitting Chindia Târgoviște, placed last in League I, against CS Mioveni, ranked 3rd in League II. The playoff will have 2 legs, on August 9 and 12.



    Burleanu also said the elements taken into account for the 16-team competition system include television ratings, the number of viewers, infrastructure, financial stability and the predictability of match scores. “We think this system is more attractive and will help us increase the revenues of League I clubs. This system also addresses a number of flaws of the 14-team system, such as the difference between the number of playoff and playout matches. Also, we have to admit that in the old format there were matches with no actual stake, and this is going to change now, Burleanu added.



    On the other hand, at the end of the 2020-2021 season the new system will allow a playout team to compete against a playoff team for qualification in the European football cups.



    The new football season may start on August 22. The president of the Romanian Football Federation Răzvan Burleanu warned that the new season will come with financial difficulties, and said the Federation urges clubs to be cautious and to safeguard their financial stability. He added that he would like football fans to be back on stadiums as soon as possible, but that this will only be permitted after all health risks have been addressed. Romanias football champion this year is CFR Cluj, while the Romanian Football Cup went to FCSB from Bucharest.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)