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Saturday

22-02-2025 Vol 19

FCSB or Steaua Bucharest: Who are Manchester United’s Europa League opponents?

Helmut Duckadam, the man who saved four sanctions in the European Cup final in 1986, died last month.

The famous Romanian goalkeeper was a hero in his homeland, but he broke Barcelona’s hearts with his savings. The Catalans managed by Terry Venables and with Bernd Schuster and Steve Archibald were strong favorites to lift a first European Cup. The final was in Seville, and given that Steaua Bucharest was behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War Europe, all except a handful in the 70,000-crowd supported Barcelona.

Duckadam crushed their dreams, and in the 38 years since Steaua’s triumph has only another team from Eastern Europe – Red Star Belgrade (now known as CRVENA ZVEZDA) won Europe’s top competition.

Steaua Bucharest still exists. They play in a smart new government -owned 30,000 seat stadium not far from where Duckadam lived in the western parts of the city. They have passionate fans and play in the second division. Still, Duckadam and many Romanians consider Steaua Bucharest as FCSB-Manchester United’s hosts on Thursday in the Europa League, a 53,000 sale with tickets that go in 10 times their £ 10 ($ 12.40) face value.

Welcome to a seemingly endless argument about who owns the story of Romania’s most successful club. In Manchester, FC United sings Manchester fans “two United, but the soul is one”, but in Bucharest it is the struggle for the soul that has caused so much anxiety and several legal disputes.


Steauas Duckadam tip the ball over the bar in Sevilla in 1986 (Peter Robinson/Empics via Getty Images)

When Duckadam died, his body lay for 24 hours at the national arena where United plays Thursday’s fixture. Fans from both clubs went to honor him, but while the two clubs have mutual respect for a national hero, the connections between them all except non-existent and feelings are cruel.

So which one is genuine Steaua Bucharest?

Google ‘Steaua Bucharest’ and you will be sent to a page entitled FCSB. “This article is about the club officially named FCSB,” it reads. “Second, claiming to be the legal successor of the original Steaua Bucuresti and affiliated with the Multi-Sport Club and the Army, see CSA Steaua București (football). For other uses, see steaua bucurești (disambiguation). “

Click on the latter link and you will be sent to a page that shows the many sports played by Steaua Bucharest. At the bottom there is a link to “FCSB, a football club that was previously illegally named FC Steaua Bucuresti”.

The fixtures that are detailed on the FCSB side are from Romania’s Super League. The accompanying Wikipedia listing leads you to: “Fotbal Club FCSB, formerly Fotbal Club Steaua Bucuresti and sometimes commonly known simply as Steaua”. Wiki is open to abuse, and their entry has been changed to: “The team, now known as the Fotbal Club FCSB, took place to be Steaua. However, it was not. “

Confused? You will be. So who exactly is playing Manchester United?

Back in August 2016, in the Champions League qualifying play-offs, Manchester City confronted a team that few had heard. On UEFA’s official website the team was listed as ‘FCSB’, but at the BBC the result was registered as ‘Steaua Bucharest 0 Manchester City 5’. It wasn’t much of a story until a tweet became viral from this game, allegedly from the account of Romania’s top department.

“Here it is @MANCITE FANTS!” It read. “You support a club purchased with oil money made illegally! You have no story! You just have money! “

As it was an unofficial account, the tweet was quickly forgotten to have served its purpose online, but the point of the story is an interesting.

“Here is a simple explanation as it is very complicated,” says former Romania International Florin Gardos, once from Southampton, says The athletic. “The current owner of FCSB, Mr. (Gigi) Becali, bought the club after 2000. In the late 1990s, clubs in Europe had to be owned by private owners. Club Steaua was originally owned by the Ministry of Defense. They had to sell it; He bought it. So 16 years later, there was a court decision that said that Mr. Becali did not own the logo or brand and that everything should return to the Ministry of Defense.


Florin Gardos in his play days at Southampton (Nick Potts/PA images via Getty Images)

“The Ministry of Defense owns Steaua, and they created a senior club that started in the fourth league with amateurs. They got up to the other league and have been there for a few years. However, because of the Romanian sports law rules, they cannot be promoted as they are effectively owned by the government.

“There has been a separation of fans. A lot of fans are with FCSB, including me because there was a club that changed its name overnight, but they were the same. FCSB is the biggest brand in Romanian football with the best average participation and huge crowds for European games.

“When I played, there was a study that said they had 5 million fans in Romania. Now the fans are a bit separate. Most are at FCSB, but I work as a Pundit and I’m not allowed to say ‘Steaua’ on TV. I have to say ‘FCSB’ all the time, initials that don’t matter on paper. And for the second club it’s ‘Steaua’; They have labeled and the logo. “

Could the two ever meet?

“They could play in a cup, but Steaua can’t be promoted until they become a privately owned club. But I hear that people may be afraid to buy 51 percent (effort) because what happened to Becali could happen again. Many people don’t think public money should go to a professional team. “

Gigi Becali is a 66 -year -old Romanian businessman and nationalist politician who returned to politics last year. He has just been elected as a member of the Romanian Parliament for Aur, a conservative party with some controversial views on how to govern the country.

The Becali initially achieved 51 percent of the Steaua shares and added a further 15 percent batch before his wealth was placed by National Fiscal Authority (ANAF) in 2005. He appealed, won and avoided paying back tax because he transferred assets in Steaua Bucharest for a new company, FC Steaua Bucharest. Becali had bought the Steaua name at the club founded in 1947 but was not allowed to sell it or transfer it.

The army also asked for $ 38 million (£ 30.6 million) for what they called the illegal use of the brand. They didn’t get it. Romania’s Ministry of Defense sued in 2011 and claimed that the army was the rightful owners of Steaua’s logo, colors, name and honors. In 2017, the judges got Becalis Club to change their name to FCSB.


Becali in his home in April 2007 (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)

Becali was a member of the European Parliament for three years until 2012. Distured, controversial and lamponed in the Romanian media as an uneducated Silvio Berlusconi-type figure for his background as a shepherd, Becali is wealthy and powerful. He thrived after the fall of communism in the Romanian Revolution in 1989 and was in the Stake Council in Steaua.

At least until 2020, FCSB’s website said: “In 1998, the football team was separated from the Army Club, based on decisions from FIFA and UEFA, who said no club supported by the government should participate in professional competitions. In 2003, the club also became completely private. “

On the site the club referred to itself as ‘steaua’ everywhere – referred Because it’s no longer online. FCSB is not allowed to say they are owners of the historic record, but UEFA nevertheless recognizes FCSB as continuations in Steaua and credit them with winning the European Cup from 1986.

One week before 2020’s covid lockdowns, The athletic Went to see Duckadam and his wife at home. He offered whiskey and we sat in the sunshine at a football and a pair of goalkeeper gloves with his initials and No. 86.

He was a wonderful company when he explained how the victory in 1986 came a few weeks later, in the middle of electricity cuts, and how they knew a little about Barcelona, ​​wore a VHS video, smuggled to them by a journalist, of Venables’ team that beat Goteborg on sanctions in the semi -finals.


Duckadam is beaten in the final, only for Pichi Alonso’s goal to be excluded (David Cannon/Allsport)

Steaua wore a white set without badge that they had received the night before. Duckadam wore modern gloves for the first time in a game and guarded them so closely that he slept with them. Barcelona’s players said nothing to him after the game, but when Steaua played City in the 2016 Champions League qualification, their officials Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano told him that the Barcelona people would never forgive him. Pep Guardiola admitted he never thought Barca would lose that game.

Still, the trophy that Duckadam’s heroik secured, according to him, was held by the wrong club.

“I work for FCSB,” was how Duckadam explained his role as club ambassador for a team most Romanians recognize as Steaua Bucharest. But they are not legal. “It is not fair that the smaller team has the trophies that we Won. “He didn’t want to speak sick, but it was clearly a deeply emotional and divisive topic.

“Duckadam was the only one from the players who won the European Cup who was of this view,” says Adrian Popa, a current Steaua player and one of very few who have played for both clubs, says The athletic. “He was a paid employee in FCSB. He worked for Becali, a very powerful and influential man in Romania. Most of his teammates work at Steaua.

“It’s clear and simple. The courts have decided who is Steaua Bucharest and who is not. Steaua is the historic club that won the European Cup in ’86 and FCSB, which I used to play for is a company. They are two different devices. They pretend that they are Steaua or that they continued the old club, but that is not true. The story and the name belong to Steaua Bucharest, for which I now play.

“We are not affected by them (FCSB). I play for Steaua Bucharest, the biggest Romanian team ever-not FCSB. The judge has decided that the story and the name are ours. “


Steaua fans celebrate the 37th anniversary of the European Cup success during a game against Otelul Galati in 2023 (Vasile Mihai-Antonio/Getty Images)

Asked to describe the relationship between the two clubs, POPA adds: “There is no relationship. We cannot call it a war, but we can say that they do not respect legal decisions. They are also very powerful in the media and all structures. Steaua belongs to the country; It wasn’t legal to buy. “

“Players and former players are shared, but respect each other,” says Gardos. “And even worse, if I post something on social media on the subject, supports fans who support the team from the other league and talk badly about me. Fifteen years ago everyone was in the same stadium and I was loved. Now the fans are separated and much more radical. “

Both Gardos, who retired in 2023, and Popa is 36. ”At present, we are not entitled to move on to the top league because of the legislation in Romania (preventing state -owned clubs from playing in the top division),” says Popa . “We are the only country in Europe with this kind of legislation. There should be changes if we are to be allowed to play in the first league.

“I would very much like to play against them (FCSB). There was a game in the third division under Covid, then behind closed doors. Their second team and our first. They sent some of their first -team regulars. It was 1-1.

“I really hope we get a chance to be promoted. We are in second place. If the law changes we can be promoted. It would be a dream for me to play in the first league with Steaua – I would play a game and then I went back from football. “


POPA (right) challenges Dinamo Bucurestis Lamine Ghezali in a League 2 Final Game in May 2023 (Flaviu Buboi/Nurphoto via Getty Images)

“I started coming to Steaua (now FCSB) when I was eight, and I later played for them (from 2012-17 when they were still called Steaua Bucharest),” Popa adds. “I respect that I played my best moments in football with them, but this is life. For many years I thought it was all a misunderstanding, but when the decision from the court came it was clear to me who was who.

“FCSB has a lot of fans, because when they play in the first league and play European matches. Fans will see Manchester United and not hold from the other league, that’s normal. But we is steaua. “

(Top Photo: Getty Images)

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