Steaua Bucharest to move to stadium in small town

Steaua Bucharest financer Gigi Becali said yesterday (Thurs) the team would play at Buzau, a small town nearly 120 km from Bucharest.



His decision comes after the Defence Ministry said yesterday that the lease contract for the Ghencea stadium had ended, as Steaua Bucharest had not paid rent for more than 60 days.

"It is clear the team is not going to play in Ghencea anymore. Now I'll start to take out all seats. I won't leave anything there, in Ghencea sports base. I'll take all! The lightning equipment for night matches, the scoring panel...all that I can take, legally, I'll take!" Becali said.

Becali added he may appeal to the CFR Cluj stadium in case Steaua reaches the Champions League, as the stadium in Buzau is not approved for CL matches.

Buzau is a small town nearly 120 km eastern Bucharest, with around 130,000 inhabitants. The town's team, Gloria Buzau, is currently in the second league.

Steaua has no stadium!

Legendary football team Steaua Bucharest may lose its stadium because it hasn’t paid rent for over 60 days.



The stadium’s owners - the Romanian Defence Ministry - said today (Weds) that because it hadn’t received any payment for either March or April the lease contract for the stadium had been cancelled.

According to the contract Steaua Bucharest has to pay 21,600 Euros per month for the 90,000 sqm stadium and buildings. The club has also failed to pay a further 5,000 Euros (20,000 lei) expenses.

Steaua financer, MEP Gigi Becali said Defence Minister Gabriel Oprea had increased the rent to 65,000 Euros per month, but this was flatly denied by the Ministry which issued a statement saying: "The Army Sports Club hasn't modified the contract clauses and hasn't increased the value of the rent."

Steaua is fifth in the local championship, one match before the end of League I season.