Dinamo may find home abroad

Romanian First Division leaders FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti have already begun planning for the prospect of playing in the UEFA Champions League next season by looking for a stadium abroad to host their home matches, club officials have revealed.

Title favourites
Dinamo look certainties to qualify for Europe's elite club competition as they are leading the table with 52 points, 13 points ahead of arch-rivals FC Steaua Bucuresti, but the facilities at their Dinamo ground do not meet the strict criteria required by UEFA to stage matches in the tournament.

Ambitious plans
Dinamo executive president Cristian Borcea revealed that the club has rejected Steaua's proposal to host matches at their stadium because of the long rivalry between the two sides. Instead, they are considering playing their home games in Italy or Spain. "In Italy there is a Romanian community of 700,000, while more than a million live and work in Spain, so Dinamo would like to play somewhere like this," said Borcea.

Direct path
The winners of this season's Romanian title have a good chance of qualifying directly into the group stages of the UEFA Champions League as a result of the good performances of arch-rivals Steaua and AFC Rapid Bucuresti in last season's UEFA Cup. Dinamo themselves have made it through to the Round of 32 of this season's competition, where they will face SL Benfica.