EFJ condemns Romanian Football Federation for ignoring violence against journalists

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is backing a formal complaint to UEFA against the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) and its president Mircea Sandu, after the football federation allegedly encouraged footballers to throw stones at journalists and verbally abuse them.

The report will be lodged by the EFJ’s Romanian affiliate, MediSind, and centres around an incident prior to the national team’s match against Lithuania on 6 September 2008.

British newspaper, The Guardian, reports that during a walk around the Botanical Gardens of the Romanian city of Cluj prior to the national team’s match later that evening, three players allegedly verbally abused journalists while one, Mirel Radoi, is said to have thrown stones at the reporters. . While the trigger for the incident is unclear, the EFJ reports that journalists were ordered to stand ten metres away from players by the FRF’s press officer.

“It is a scandal that football players are being encouraged to throw stones at journalists by their managers and officials,” said EFJ Chair Arne König. “The EFJ cannot understand why such a hooligan behaviour can take place without sanctions.”

It is not a isolated event in Romanian football reports the EFJ. Last month, the sports editor at the Monitor newspaper, Ionel Lutan, was physically attacked by Stefan Chitu, president of CSM Club in Ploiesti and a member of the FRF national executive committee. A similar incident happened when the coach of Politehnica Iasi team, Ionut Popa, assaulted reporters from Romanian Television. Again, no action has been taken over these attacks.

“This is shocking and unacceptable behaviour from the leaders of sport in Roimania,” said König. “Europe’s football authorities should intervene to put an end to such intimidation.”