International football players’ union warns that Romanian clubs are bad payers

The International football players’ union FIFPro has issued a warning to professional footballers about signing for Romanian clubs because of the risk they will not get paid. FIFPro’s Global Employment Report, released in November 2016, showed that 75 percent of players in Romania had to deal with late payment in the past two seasons. “The situation is getting even worse,” said Emilian Hulubei, the president of Romanian player union, AFAN. In 2015, AFAN had 257 cases at arbitration and appeals committees. That number grew to 287 in 2016, according to Hulubei. “It is very frustrating. We are spending all our time on the players’ wage complaints.” Even after successfully claiming unpaid wages at FIFA arbitration committees or the Court of Arbitration for Sport many players still struggle to get the money they are owed. This situation is strongly related to the poor financial health of Romanian football clubs. In the Romanian top league (Liga 1) four clubs are insolvent. In the second division, four clubs have disappeared due to bankruptcy during the season and three others are in insolvency. When a club goes bankrupt, it is practically impossible for a player to get his money, FIFPro warns. “There are clubs who can never to pay the salary that they offered a player. They will pay the first salary or the signing fee, but nothing more. They simply use the player. When the transfer window opens, they get rid of him,” Emilian Hulubei explained. Romanian football is dealing with a lack of sponsors. Most of the clubs rely on TV money or money from local authorities and only a few clubs in the highest league have real sponsors. Moreover, the fans are turning away because of renowned clubs going bankrupt or scandals involving club owners. Attendances have steadily declined to a match average of about 2,700 this season. AFAN is in talks with the government in an effort to make the league more sustainable. How much does it cost to buy the brand and history of a football team that won the Romanian league? Former Romanian football club owner indicted for “embezzling” 11 players editor@romania-insider.com