A new edition of domestic League One
football championship starts this coming weekend. The competition has a new
format as compared to the previous season, with 16 teams competing instead of
14. At the end of the regular season, teams ranking 1st to 6th will be included
in Group 1, where fixtures will be played on a double-legged-tie system, therefore
counting ten rounds. Teams ranking 7th to 16th will still
play in Group 2, where fixtures will be played on a single-legged basis, along
nine rounds all told. Top-of-the-table team in Group 1 secures its ticket for
the Champions League’s preliminary round, while the runner-up team plays in
Europa League’s qualifiers. The team ranking 3rd in Group 1 will play
a playoff fixture against the team that wins the playoff confrontation pitting
Group 2’s top-of-the-table team against 2nd- ranked team in the same group, with both
teams vying for the 2nd position in Europa League. Group 2’s 9th
and 10th ranked teams will be relegated, while League Two’s 1st
and 2nd ranked teams will be promoted to League One. Group 2’s 7th
and 8th-ranked teams will play a playoff fixture against League
Two’s 3rd-and 4th-placed teams.
On
Friday, in a match counting towards the 1st round of the new
competitions season, FC Arges face FC Botosani. On Saturday, Viitorul Constanta
play a home game against newly-promoted team UTA Arad. In Sfantu Gheorghe, the local
side Sepsi take on Universitatea Craiova, while in Giurgiu, the local side Astra
play a home match against FCSB from Bucharest. On Sunday, Poli Iasi play a home
game against Chindia Targoviste, while defending champions CFR Cluj travel to
Clinceni, for a match against the local side Academica. The round’s two last
fixtures are scheduled this coming Monday, when FC Voluntari take on Gaz Metan
Mediaş, while Dinamo Bucharest play FC Hermannstadt.
The
Romanian referee Ovidiu Haţegan has been appointed a back-up referee for the Champions
League finals pitting PSG against Bayern Munich. The match will be played in
Lisbon this coming Sunday, according to the Romanian Football Federation’s
official page. The Romanian main referee thus joins the team headed by the
Italian Daniele Orsato. The assistant referees with be two other Italians, Lorenzo
Manganelli and Alessandro Giallatini.
The
second stage of the national all-women rally, Women Rally, will be held in
Bucharest on Sunday, under the aegis of the Sports Automobile Romanian Federation.
The first stage was held in Timisoara in July, while the third stage of the
competition will be held in Cluj-Napoca in October.
(Translation by Eugen Nasta)