Rapid joy at successful appeal
Monday, December 3, 2001
Article summary
FC Rapid Bucuresti will be docked just a point after successfully appealing against a five-point ban imposed for leaving the field of play prior to the end of a game.
Article body
FC Rapid Bucuresti will be docked just one point after the Appeals Body of the Romanian Professional League decreed that a five-point deduction for leaving the field of play prior to the end of a game was too harsh a penalty.
Ended in confusion
The punishment stems from a Divizia A encounter between Rapid and FC Brasov on 18 November. The game in the Tineretului stadium ended in confusion after the Rapid players walked off the pitch with a minute of the match still remaining.
Penalty appeals
Trailing 1-0 deep into injury time, Rapid defender Ionut Voicu fell in the box under a challenge by Flavius Moldovan, but referee Sorin Corpodean waved away penalty appeals. In protest, Rapid coach Viorel Hizo decided to take his team off the pitch. The only goal of the truncated game came in the 33rd minute when Emerich Vascko scored.
November hearing
During a hearing in November, Rapid were fined €3,800 and the club's vice-president, Constantin Zotta, was suspended for five months and fined €1,900 for his part in the débâcle, while FC Brasov were awarded a 3-0 victory.
Suspension reduced
The Appeals Body decided on Monday to uphold both fines and maintain their decision to award the game to Brasov, but Zotta's suspension was reduced to three months. Speaking after the hearing, Zotta said: "We are pleased with this final decision, because due to regulations there wasn't a possibility to escape without any points deduction. All what we hope is that this will not affect the fight for the title."
Fourth place
Rapid currently occupy fourth place in the Romanian first division, five points behind leaders FC Dinamo Bucuresti going into the mid-season break. The loss of five points would have seen them drop to sixth and would have dealt their title hopes a severe blow.
Most severe
The five-point penalty would have been the most severe in Divizia A history. The only other serious points sanction was handed out in the 1990/91 season, when FC Corvinul Hunedoara and FC Bihor Oradea were deducted two and four points respectively after attempting to fix a match.
