Farul lose home advantage
Thursday, May 9, 2002
Article summary
FC Farul Constanta will play two home games at neutral venues after a disciplinary hearing on Thursday.
Article body
FC Farul Constanta will play their next two home games at neutral venues after a disciplinary hearing today.
Violent scenes
The disciplinary committee of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF) ruled to close the club's Gheorghe Hagi stadium for their next two home games after violence marred their 1 May meeting with FCM Bacau.
Officials confronted
After the game, which the struggling Divizia A side lost 3-2, several Farul players and officials confronted the match officials and the driver of the FC Farul ambulance, club employee Gheorghe Podaru, hit assistant referee Tudor Constantinescu in the head.
Tough punishment
The punishment will be particularly hard for Farul who are in 13th place in the table with 28 points and five matches left to play. Although they are two points ahead of 14th-placed CF Sportul Studentesc, they remain a point adrift of 12th-placed FC Brasov and top-flight safety. The 13th and the 14th-placed sides will go in to a relegation play-off at the end of the season, but it is still possible that 15th-placed FC Petrolul Ploiesti could climb away from their automatic relegation slot and grab a place in the play-offs.
Difficult games
The two games that Farul will be forced to play away from the Gheorge Hagi stadium will see them take on FC National Bucuresti and FC Steaua Bucuresti, leaving them with just one more home game - a last-day meeting with fellow strugglers Petrolul.
Behind closed doors
It is not the first time that Farul have been banned from playing home games at their stadium. After the play-off game versus against Bacau at the end of the 2000-01 season, referee Marian Salomir was hit in the head by a coin thrown from the stands and Farul had to play their first match of the following season in Tulcea, and their second behind closed doors in Constanta.
Tulcea option
Tulcea or Galati are the likely alternative venues this time - both of them some 200km from Constanta. Meanwhile Podaru, the man who hit Constantinescu, has been banned for three years and dismissed by the club.
