Radio România Internațional

Tag: Romanian football

May 27, 2024 UPDATE

MINIMUM WAGE – Ruling coalition partners on Monday discussed the possibility of increasing the national minimum wage, which according to political sources is expected to reach 740 EUR. The Social-Democrats and the Liberals want the measure to take effect starting July 1, as Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stated last week. Of this sum, 40 EUR will remain tax-free. The coalition also discussed the possibility of cutting public spending, as well as maintaining a cap on trade markup and extending it to all foodstuffs.

FAC – On the sidelines of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Romania’s Foreign Minister, Luminița Odobescu firmly criticized the Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. The EU must step up its military assistance for Ukraine, the Romanian official said. On the other hand, Georgia remains one of Romania’s partners, Minister Odobescu pointed out, highlighting the need to support this country and its European aspirations. The adoption of a “foreign agents” bill undermines Georgia’s EU agenda, the Romanian Foreign Minister added.

DIASPORA – The Day of Romanians Worldwide was celebrated on Sunday. On this occasion, officials across the political spectrum have conveyed messages celebrating the efforts of Romanians living and working abroad. President Klaus Iohannis urged Romanians to preserve their identity, language and traditions, arguing the diaspora needs to remain a strong voice both in Bucharest and in other world capitals. Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu recalled that the welfare and security of Romanians abroad, as well as permanent dialogue with the diaspora, should remain key priorities of Romanian diplomacy. Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciucă urged Romanians living abroad to never forget about their identity and instil their love for the homeland in their children. In turn, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu gave assurances the government will continue to support Romanians living outside the country’s borders.

EXERCISE – 500 military from Romania, the USA, France, Poland and Italy on Monday took part in an exercise in Smârdan training center (southeast) as part of the Dacian Strike 24 multinational exercise, held in Romania and Bulgaria. Training drills included deployment of land and air forces. The Multinational Corps Southeast coordinated the entire operation. The Romanian Air Forces and the Royal Air Forces from Great Britain were also involved. In the context of NATO’s advanced presence in southeastern Europe, the Southeast Multinational Command is coordinating training operations of subordinated forces with a view to deterring possible acts of aggression in the region.

MOLDOVA – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday is paying a visit to Moldova, where he will reassert US support for the Republic of Moldova’s EU accession and discuss energy security topics, a US Department of State release reads. According to Radio Romania’s Washington correspondent, Antony Blinken is then expected to travel to Prague, Czechia, to attend an informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. The meeting will address the priorities of the upcoming NATO Summit of July in Washington.

FOOTBALL – Romania’s football champions FCSB will be playing in Champions League’s second preliminary round next season. Romanian Cup winners, Corvinul Hunedoara, will be playing in Europa League whereas CFR Cluj and Universitatea Craiova will be competing in Conference League. Last weekend the so-called Golden Generation of Romanian football held its farewell performance. Back in the 90s, Romania managed to secure qualification to three world cups and two European championships. (DB & VP)

27 May 2024
RRI Sports Club

The financial
state of Romanian football has been improving over the years. The Romanian
Football Federation has recently announced that all First League clubs have complied
with the financial fair play regulations for the current season. The
announcement follows the end of the financial monitoring cycle on December 10.
The Monitoring Administration has stated: All clubs taking part in the First
League championship have fulfilled the fair play financial requirements during
the competition they enrolled in, and they didn’t incur any outstanding debt
by November 30, 2018, to other clubs, employees and social security schemes or
fiscal authorities, in connection to contractual or legal obligations appeared
before June 30, 2018. The Financial Monitoring Administration also stipulates
this is the second consecutive year that First League clubs comply with the
financial fair play requirements.

The Financial
Fair Play Regulations (FFP) were passed by UEFA in 2010. It is a clear set of
rules that all clubs must observe. Failure to do so will result in their being
excluded from all European competitions. The legislation is designed to prevent
clubs from spending more than what they earn, with a view to ensuring long-term
viability and sustainability for European football clubs.

In 2014 the
Romanian Football Federation also introduced the financial fair play
regulations in the domestic championship. They devised a new set of rules for
obtaining licenses and financial monitoring that should keep an eye on first
league clubs that don’t take part in European inter-club competitions. As a
result of this new piece of legislation, starting 2015 clubs have been
undergoing periodic checks as regards their debt. Any irregularities are
sanctioned either by points deduction in the league tables or by fines. In 2015
three clubs failed to comply with monitoring regulations and received
penalties. In 2016, another two clubs were forced to pay similar fines.

12 December 2018
RRI Sports Club

The financial
state of Romanian football has been improving over the years. The Romanian
Football Federation has recently announced that all First League clubs have complied
with the financial fair play regulations for the current season. The
announcement follows the end of the financial monitoring cycle on December 10.
The Monitoring Administration has stated: All clubs taking part in the First
League championship have fulfilled the fair play financial requirements during
the competition they enrolled in, and they didn’t incur any outstanding debt
by November 30, 2018, to other clubs, employees and social security schemes or
fiscal authorities, in connection to contractual or legal obligations appeared
before June 30, 2018. The Financial Monitoring Administration also stipulates
this is the second consecutive year that First League clubs comply with the
financial fair play requirements.

The Financial
Fair Play Regulations (FFP) were passed by UEFA in 2010. It is a clear set of
rules that all clubs must observe. Failure to do so will result in their being
excluded from all European competitions. The legislation is designed to prevent
clubs from spending more than what they earn, with a view to ensuring long-term
viability and sustainability for European football clubs.

In 2014 the
Romanian Football Federation also introduced the financial fair play
regulations in the domestic championship. They devised a new set of rules for
obtaining licenses and financial monitoring that should keep an eye on first
league clubs that don’t take part in European inter-club competitions. As a
result of this new piece of legislation, starting 2015 clubs have been
undergoing periodic checks as regards their debt. Any irregularities are
sanctioned either by points deduction in the league tables or by fines. In 2015
three clubs failed to comply with monitoring regulations and received
penalties. In 2016, another two clubs were forced to pay similar fines.

12 December 2018
RRI Sports Club – Rapid Football Club’s 95th anniversary

A couple of railway workers with the Grivita Railway Works laid the foundation for one of the best-loved and most popular club in the history of Romanian Football: Rapid Bucharest. The date proper was June 25, 1923, and back then the group of railway workers set up the CFR Bucharest Cultural and Sports Association.

The club’s football team had shortly become one of the most popular football teams in Romania. In the interwar period, railway footballers succeeded a couple of notable results. Until 1942, Rapid won Romanian Football Cup seven times, while in 1940 they reached as far as the final of the Central European Cup, which was cancelled because of the war.

However, it was not until 1967 that Rapid managed to win Romania’s domestic championship for the first time, that is more than four decades since the club had been founded. Their team in 1967, with Valentin Stanescu at the helm, is rated the best in the club’s entire history. Rapid’s strongest point was the attack line, with Ion Ionescu and Nicky Dumitriu at the center.

Apart from its ups, however, Rapid had its downs, throughout the years, playing in the second division for quite a long time, where they even had their traditional rivals, such as Petrolul Ploieşti or Progresul Bucharest. Decades ago, a second league match pitting Rapid against Petrolul brought more football fans in the stands than League One’s derbies.

It took Rapid 32 years to claim the title, as in 1999, with Mircea Lucescu at the helm, Rapid once again became champions. Rapid won the title yet again, in 2003, with Mircea Rednic as their headcoach.

At international level, in the European Cup of modern times, Rapid boasts two notable performances. In the 1972-1973 season, the railway workers team reached as far as the Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinals, being ousted from the competition by Leeds United. In the 2005-2006 season, Rapid reached as far as the UEFA Cup quarterfinals, then they were eliminated by Steaua Bucharest.

In recent years, Rapid has had a rather fated course, money-wise, as they had financial problems, reaching insolvency and being dismantled in late 2016.

In 2017, at the initiative of Capital city’s District One Municipality, the Rapid Academy Sports Association was set up, being included in Bucharest 4th League. The association purchased the Rapid brand and got promoted to the 3rd League, where they will play their regular games as Football Club Rapid Bucharest.

(Translated by E. Nasta)

27 June 2018
The Video Assistant Referee, an option for Romanian football?

A while back, when the king of sports was just an academic discipline in the curricula of a British university, there was no referee whatsoever, as the underlying assumptions regarding a football game was that no true gentleman would wittingly resort to foul play on the pitch. Disputes would be regulated by mutual consent, by the two teams’ captains. Meanwhile, progress has been made to that end, two referees emerged, initially referred to in English as umpires, each of them coming from either team. Disputes between them were mediated by the so-called referee, the forefather of the present-day main referee.

Things were improved even more in 1863, when the English Football Federation, known as the Football Association, set the Rules of the Game. The Set of Rules was adjusted in 1891, when the main referee was granted the role it has today, while the two umpires became sideline referees.

Ever since, changes in the refereeing system have been minor, perhaps save for the stipulation of the back-up referee and the extra assistants, positioned in close vicinity to each of the two posts. However, they are not part of the standard refereeing crew. Today, they can only be found in major competitions. The thing is that referees have often been targeted by footballers, fans or the media, and not for a good reason. There were quite a few cases when the referees sealed the fate of a match, taking uninspired decisions.

However, things took an interesting turn, once the video technologies have emerged, as they can clearly expose some of the errors in refereeing. Moreover, video technology can be very helpful, just as it happens in rugby. But when it comes to using video technologies in football, they have been fiercely opposed to by football legends such as Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer or Michel Platini, who have repeatedly got vocal, standing up against the implementation of the new technology. Notwithstanding, in September 2017 FIFA president Gianni Infantino was overtly in favor of video assistant referees. In Paris, during the presentation of the World Women Football Championship, to be held in France in 2019, Infantino said that even if there were little things to be amended, the overall result was extremely positive, to the extent that in the long run, the new system allowed the referee to correct his errors.

Romania has been in favor of the video assistant referee system (VAR). The President of the Professional Football League, Gino Iorgulescu, who this past Monday was reelected for a second, five-year term in office, said in a press conference that this was a must in Romania’s League One. Furthermore, Iorgulescu emphasized there was also a UEFA Directive stipulating that the VAR system be implemented gradually. The only remaining problem is that of funding, required for the implementation of the initiative, for which around 1.8 to 2 million Euros are needed.

25 October 2017
Romanian Football in 2016

At the end of this year Romania ranks 39th in the official standings of the International Football Federation. It is the lowest ranking since 2011, despite our country taking part in the European Championships this year after a long break.

In terms of inter-club competitions, the best performing team was Astra Giurgiu. For the first time in the clubs history, Astra won the First League trophy, also in a year that marked the introduction of the new play-off / play-out system. At the end of the 2015-2016 season, Astra topped the league tables with a 5-point lead over runners-up Steaua Bucharest. The 2015 champions won the League Cup, after defeating Concordia Chiajna 2-1 in the finals. CFR Cluj won the Romanian Cup after defeating Dinamo Bucharest 7-6. The score was 2-all at the end of regular time and extra time, with the team from Cluj emerging the winners of the penalty shootout.

In European competitions, the first team to play its first official match as part of the new European football season was CSMS Iasi, which played in the second preliminary round of Europa League. The team from Iasi however was knocked out by Hajduk Split, after drawing 2-all at home and losing 1-2 away from home.

Astra Giurgiu had an excellent run. It played in the Champions League third preliminary round, where it was knocked out by F.C. Copenhagen. Astra drew 1-all at home and was trounced nil-3 away from home. In Europa League, the team from Giurgiu edged out West Ham United of England, after drawing 1-all on home turf and winning 1-nil on the London Olympic Stadium. Astra put up a very good performance in Group 2, finishing in 2nd place after AS Rome, ahead of Viktoria Plzen and Austria Vienna. In the Europa League round of 32, Astra will be playing Genk of Belgium in February.

In the Champions League preliminaries, Steaua had a slightly better performance than Astra. In the third preliminary round Steaua knocked out Sparta Prague after drawing 1-all away from home and winning 2-nil at home. In the play-off Steaua was pitted against Manchester City. The English team trashed Steaua nil-5 on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest and 1-nil at home. Steaua played however in the Europa League group phase, but had an overall subpar performance. Laurentiu Reghecampfs trainees ended Group L in 4th place, after Osmanlispor of Turkey, Villareal of Spain and FC Zurich of Switzerland.

Viitorul Constanta played only two games at its first appearance in European competitions. In the third preliminary round of Europa League, Gheorghe Hagis trainees lost 5-nil to Gent of Belgium away from home, and ended the return leg in a blank draw. Also in the third preliminary round, Pandurii Targu Jiu was knocked out by Maccabi Tel Aviv, after losing 1-3 in Drobeta Turnu Severin and 1-2 in Israel.

In news from domestic football, the first half of the 2016-2017 football season has brought about a surprising leader: Viitorul Constanta.

Moving on now to the Romanian national team. 2016 was not the best year for our team. At the European Championship in France, Romania played in Group A, lost to France 1-2 and to Albania nil-1. It did manage to get a 1-all draw in the match against Switzerland, which gave them the last place in the group tables.

For the 2018 World Cup preliminaries, Romania has hired a new coach, German Cristoph Daum. The results however did not rise to the expectations. In September, on Cluj Arena, the Romanian team drew 1-all against Montenegro. In October, Romania defeated Armenia 5-nil away from home. Our teams next feature was the away game against Kazakhstan, which they ended in a blank draw. Then, in the final official game of the year, Romania lost nil-3 to Poland on National Arena Stadium in Bucharest. Consequently, Romania now ranks 4th in preliminary Group E, after Poland, Montenegro and Denmark.

(Translated by V. Palcu)

5 January 2017
Football Flash

Romanian football squad Steaua Bucharest has got through to the Champions League’s playoffs. In the second leg of the third preliminary round, Romania’s vice-champions on home turf grabbed a 2-nil win against Czech contenders Sparta Prague. In the first leg the score was 1-all. Under the circumstances, Steaua booked their tickets for the European autumn. If they miss the opportunity to go past the Champions League’s playoffs, Steaua play in Europa League’s group stage.

Steaua got the upper hand for the most part of the match hosted by the National Arena in Bucharest. Laurentiu Reghcampf’s trainees drew first blood on 31 minutes when the ball shot by Nicolae Stanciu from the edge of the box touched the net right below Sparta’s crossbar. Since minute 51 Sparta had been one man shy on the pitch for the rest of the game as Jakub Brabec got yellow-booked for the second time and had to leave the pitch. On 62 minutes Stanciu scored yet again, shooting the ball from outside the box.

This coming Friday Steaua will be informed on their next playoff fixture, most likely including such teams as Manchester City, Porto, Villarreal, Ajax Amsterdam and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Also on Wednesday, Astra Giurgiu wasted the chance to qualify for the Champions League’s playoffs, since they sustained a 3-nil defeat at the hands of FC Copenhagen, in a fixture hosted by the Telia Parken stadium in Denmark’s capital city. We recall that the first leg had ended 1-all. Astra Giurgiu are now entitled to play in Europa League’s playoffs and will be informed on their forthcoming fixture also on Friday.

(Translated by E. Nasta)

4 August 2016
Football Flash

Romanian football squad Steaua Bucharest has got through to the Champions League’s playoffs. In the second leg of the third preliminary round, Romania’s vice-champions on home turf grabbed a 2-nil win against Czech contenders Sparta Prague. In the first leg the score was 1-all. Under the circumstances, Steaua booked their tickets for the European autumn. If they miss the opportunity to go past the Champions League’s playoffs, Steaua play in Europa League’s group stage.

Steaua got the upper hand for the most part of the match hosted by the National Arena in Bucharest. Laurentiu Reghcampf’s trainees drew first blood on 31 minutes when the ball shot by Nicolae Stanciu from the edge of the box touched the net right below Sparta’s crossbar. Since minute 51 Sparta had been one man shy on the pitch for the rest of the game as Jakub Brabec got yellow-booked for the second time and had to leave the pitch. On 62 minutes Stanciu scored yet again, shooting the ball from outside the box.

This coming Friday Steaua will be informed on their next playoff fixture, most likely including such teams as Manchester City, Porto, Villarreal, Ajax Amsterdam and Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Also on Wednesday, Astra Giurgiu wasted the chance to qualify for the Champions League’s playoffs, since they sustained a 3-nil defeat at the hands of FC Copenhagen, in a fixture hosted by the Telia Parken stadium in Denmark’s capital city. We recall that the first leg had ended 1-all. Astra Giurgiu are now entitled to play in Europa League’s playoffs and will be informed on their forthcoming fixture also on Friday.

(Translated by E. Nasta)

4 August 2016
Romanian Football is Facing a Major Crisis

Nothing sparks
off more heated debates in Romania save for politics and football. If in
politics, likes and dislikes are shared between the left and the right, between
those in power and the opposition, between one politician or another, the
national football side is believed to represent all the Romanians. And everyone
seems to share the belief of a former football star, Sorin Cartu, according to
whom, we’ve had the most lackluster national team since the 70s, after the
Romanian eleven came a cropper in their attempt to qualify for the round of 16 at
EURO 2016 in France.

After conceding a one-nil defeat to Albania on June 19th,
an unprecedented result since 1948, our footballers ended up in the last
position of Group A with only one point out of three games. In the first two
matches, Romania had been outperformed by the host country 1-2, holding
Switzerland to a one-all draw in their second game. Before calling for the
resignation of the headcoach and the bosses at the Federation, Romanian sports
daily Gazeta Sporturilor wrote: ‘with
outmoded headcoach Anghel Iordanescu at the helm, our team proved to be in dire
need of a working attack strategy, putting up a show with a lot of mistakes in
the defence line and by its goalie.’

A week after
Romania’s failure at Euro 2016, the Romanian Football Federation chief, Razvan
Burleanu, has announced that the national team’s coach will not have his
contract prolonged; Iordanescu’s contract is due to expire this summer. His
replacement is to be announced by the end of EURO 2016, Burleanu has also told
a news conference in which he blamed the recent failure on the disastrous
situation inherited from his predecessor, Mircea Sandu, who withdrew in 2014
after almost half a century of discretionary rule of the federation. Burleanu
has described the situation as a ‘desert’ or a ‘swamp’, and to a certain
extent, pundits agree with him, pointing the finger at the endemic corruption
in the Romanian football, which is on the brink of bankruptcy and at the bottom
end of competitive sports.

Both Sandu and
the former head of the Professional Football League, Dumitru Dragomir are
facing corruption charges in several legal investigations. Numerous former
agents, club chairs and owners have already been placed behind bars.
Debt-burdened football clubs are struggling with insolvency and some are already
in the red. If their predecessors in the 90s were in the lineups of famous
sides such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan or Ajax Amsterdam, Romanian
international players are today substitutes of teams in the Balkans or the Persian
Gulf. However, all these are nothing but poor excuses for the lack of
professionalism of the incumbent Federation bosses, who seem to have come out
of the blue, and are being held in place with support from the political class
and the intelligence services, as newspapers speculate. Preliminaries for the
World Cup 2018 in Russia are due to begin on September 4th, and
being part of a group, which also includes Denmark, Montenegro, Armenia and
Kazahstan, Romania stands poor chances to qualify.

28 June 2016