Liga I Shaken Up By Fiancial Scandal: FC Timisoara, Gloria Bistrita Relegated

I’m going to assume most readers aren’t passionate followers of Romanian football, but you may well have heard of FC Timisoara, who’ve made appearances every now and then in Europe. They won’t be next season, despite finishing second in the league behind Oţelul Galaţi in what is normally a Champions League spot. Why? Because their reminiscence to play has been revoked following what a leading Romanian football blogger is describing as ‘some financial problems that could have been easily solved’ involving failed football-related payments, and they’ve been kicked out of the top flight as a result.

They’re not the only club to be rocked by this, although they’re certainly higher profile than 14th place Gloria Bistrita, who are also going down thanks to similar issues. This is a drastic, drastic measure from the Romanian Football Federation, and I’m not entirely sure what to make of it, but any time a club is removed from the Champions League and relegated something has gone very seriously wrong somewhere. Third place FC Vaslui, who finished one point behind Timisoara in the league last season, will take the vacated Champions League slot.