Sports Weekend

The latest news from Romanian football.

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Florin Orban, 12.06.2020, 13:45

It’s good
news for lovers of this sport, as matches will be resumed this weekend, with
the third leg of the domestic First League. All matches will he held, however,
without spectators.

The leg’s first
game, between Universitatea Craiova and FC Botoşani, as part of Group 1, should
have taken place on Friday, but was postponed because the doctor of the
Botosani side tested positive for coronavirus. The result of the test was
announced 24 hours before the match was due to start. The financier of the Botosani
club, Valeriu Iftimie, told the media that the doctor had not come into contact
with the players. He therefore said he would like the Public Health Directorate
in Dolj which is conducting the epidemiological investigation to allow the
match to take place sometime on Monday.

Another
match that has been postponed is that between Dinamo Bucharest and Chindia
Targoviste, which was supposed to take place on Saturday. A member of the
Dinamo staff tested positive for coronavirus, so the match will be rescheduled.

Under the circumstances,
only two matches will now be played on Saturday, both of them as part of Group
2. FC Voluntari are playing Academica Clinceni at home, while Sepsi Sfantu
Gheorghe are hosting FC Hermannstadt. The third Group 2 match will be held on Monday,
with Viitorul Constanţa playing Politehnica Iaşi at home.

In Group 1,
Sunday will see the championship’s most-eagerly awaited match, between the
current leaders CFR Cluj and the runners-up, FCSB Bucharest, a match taking
place in Cluj. At the moment, the two sides are separated by 4 points. If CFR
win, it’s hard to believe they can lose the championship title. However, one of
their best players may be out for medical reasons, the midfielder Alexandru
Chipciu, who joined the club earlier this year. But then, FCSB have not won a
match on CFR’s home turf since 2014.

On Monday,
also in Group 1, Astra Giurgiu will be playing Gaz Metan Mediaş at home. With a
win, Astra may make it to top 3.