Article by Alexandru Barbu – published on Friday, September 19, 2025, 15:09 / Updated on Friday, September 19, 2025 15:09
The National Arena will be unavailable for football in May 2026exactly at the end of the championship. The reason? Concerts of Metallica and Iron Maiden bands. Fcsb and Dinamo they will have to resort to other stadiums. “It is not ok, football has to have priority,” says Raul Rusescu, triple champion of Romania.
The two concerts were scheduled on May 13 and 28. If FCSB has the Ghencea version, a stadium with 30,000 seats, for Dinamo the situation is much more complicated. Basically, the “dogs” would only have the solution “Arc de Triomphe”, a stadium with up to 8,000 available chairs.
Video | Raul Rusescu, at GSP Live: “If the Capital City Hall were prioritizing the concerts, the stadium would be empty 9 months”
“What surprises me – when two of the most important teams in Romania come and play on the arena, do you bring Metallica and Iron Maiden? At least no more, when the critical period of the championship is! It is also fast, which can also evolve on the arena.
It bothers me that FCSB and Dinamo will not play on this stadium. Maybe we have a FCSB – Dinamo or a fast – FCSB with the title on the table! And, instead of playing with 50,000 people on the National Arena, they play in Giulești where there are 10,000 seats. It is played on the “arc”. To play Dinamo on Ghencea (no – laughs)… Dinamo he wanted, to get used to fans with 50,000 seats, that's why he left the “arc”.
If FCSB, Dinamo and Rapid would not play on the National Arena, and the arena would prioritize the concerts, the stadium would be empty 9 months. It's not ok. You only have 3 months a year of concerts. Football must have priority“, Rusescu told GSP Live.
“What would the Romanian Cup look like with the semifinals and the final only on the National Arena?”
Also related to the National Arena, Rusescu would like the Federation to borrow the model from England, where since 2008 the semifinals and the final of the England Cup are played on the same arena, the legendary Wembley.
“What I like in England is that Fa Cup only plays on Wembley starting with the semifinals. It's sensational. What would the Romanian Cup look like with the semifinals and the final only on the national arena, regardless of teams? Let's copy something interesting, not this format that I did not understand now, with groups in which everyone does not play with each one ”, added Rusescu.
In Romania, the semifinals of the Cup are played on the field of the host band, and the last act is programmed by the federation in different cities.
