Xenophobic Chants End Football Game in Romania in Min. 26

Romanian referees delegated to a football match in the top division, Superliga, ended the game in min. 26. It happened on Sunday, January 29, during the match between Sepsi OSK and FCU Craiova. This is a premiere in the Romanian Football League, as no other game has ended this way, even though this sort of anti-Hungarian chant is not new in Romania on stadiums.

From the beginning of the match, the Craiova fans shouted xenophobic chants against the OSK team, which led to the suspension of the game. Reportedly, they used expressions like “Away with the Hungarians from the country”.

OSK is a football team in Covasna county, where the Hungarians make up 71% of the total population, making Romanians a minority in their own country. On top of that, rumours say the Hungarian Government has helped OSK, a football club where, according to the Hungarian ethnic who owns it, 24 of 25 employees are of Hungarian ethnicity.

Besides, during the matches, the OSK fans’ chants, mostly in plain Hungarian, contain pro-Hungarian and anti-Romanian expressions, making OSK one of the most hated football clubs in Romania whenever the team plays away, despite their value as football players.

The rivalry between Romania and Hungary doesn’t limit to football but spreads to other sports, following historical rivalry. This time, though, the rivalry was brought to a football stadium, and Craiova’s fans will undoubtedly get banned from the next matches.

The Romanian Football League hasn’t communicated a decision yet. Still, according to European regulation, the game could end in a forfeit, and Craiova could lose the match 3-0 following fans’ behaviour.