Article by Justin Gafiuc – Published on Sunday, 09 November 2025, 00:45 / Updated on Sunday, 09 November 2025 00:46
Dorin Marin and Ciprian Ecobici, fathers of two opposing children on the pitch in the match U Craiova – Rapid U17, fought in the stands last weekend. The latter accuses that he chose with a broken jaw, and Marin claims that “it was a challenge, I just defended myself”. Caught in the middle, the kid Victor Marin, champion with FCSB and Rapid, risks being kicked out of Giulesti because of his father's aggression
A week ago, a shocking incident occurred in Romanian youth football: at the game U Craiova – Rapid (5-1) in the U17 Elite League, a group of parents from Giulești beat up the father of a football player from Olt, upset that he had launched a series of swear words. The consequence: Ciprian Ecobici, the father of Rareș Ecobici from Olteni, was chosen with a serious injury to his figure.
“My boy scored one goal and assisted the other, in the first half. Shortly after the break, a player from Rapid came at him very hard, directly on his knee, at which point I couldn't control myself and started cursing”, evoked Ecobici senior, for GSP, the moment that triggered the anger of the fans from Bucharest. The episode has ongoing consequences, and Gazeta presents you with news from the case.
“Surgery, hospitalization and recovery, over 100 days”
“I went to the hospital again and I am scheduled for surgery for Tuesday. The conclusion is that I have a broken jaw, with displacement of the bone. Medical estimates show that the surgical intervention, the hospitalization period and the recovery will last over 100 days”, Ciprian Ecobici explained today for GSP.
And he added: “I'm going to get my medico-legal certificate and formulate the criminal complaint, with the medical documents in hand. The police have already been to the hospital, I gave the statement related to the event, and I can make the complaint within 90 days. I'm already working with a lawyer.”
A group of seven or eight men from Rapid's group camped on me and beat me up. They didn't put me down, but they hit me continuously for almost a minute. I was holding my daughter's hand, who was terribly scared and started to cry. All this time, Vasile Maftei, the head of the Rapid Academy, was right next to the incident, but he didn't intervene for a second to level off. He sat and watched
– Ciprian Ecobici, for GSP, November 4
Ciprian Ecobici, the victim of the aggression during the U17 match between Craiova and Rapid
“He didn't stop cursing for 50-60 minutes. Unbearable! He jumped in first to strike”
Ciprian Ecobici claims that the initiator of the aggression was Dorin Marin, the father of Victor Marin from Rapid U17. Contacted by GSP, he presented his own version of the incidents from the match played on November 2, at the “Aripile” stadium in Craiova.
“I sat in the tribune in the sector dedicated to visiting fans, and there, nearby, another two or three parents came that I didn't know. One of the men started cursing non-stop from the first half, either at the referees or at the children. All the time he had something to shout about. He didn't stop for 50-60 minutes! And after the break, during a stronger duel on the lawn, he broke out in an extremely aggressive verbal manner. I couldn't bear to hear him anymore and I shouted to him to stop”, Marin pointed out.
Rareș Ecobici is the kid from U Craiova U17 whose father was beaten up in the stands by the parents of the sprinters
And he detailed: “He immediately jumped at me, took my dead in a row and tried to hit me, he raised his fist. What was I to do? I stood and watched? I defended myself, of course! I defended myself, yes? We both hit, he hit me on the hands and the head, but everything stopped quite quickly, because another parent from Rapid and Maftei intervened to separate us. Kinda that was it! I don't think he has those injuries he's talking about. Let him come with the documents!”.
He concludes: “I'm very sorry for what happened there, but it was a challenge. What was he doing in the visitors' stand? He seemed to have come directly to cause a scandal. Or he had something special against Rapid! He might have been drinking. I think that the parents from Rapid are the nicest, but that man was looking for it now, actually! For years since I've been going to stadiums after my fi, I haven't encountered anything like this! It was actually unbearable”.
That father was right next to the father of the football player he was cursing. He swore at him several times, he told him to stop, but he finally stormed off. I'm not apologizing for him, I'm not defending him, but you can't stand by someone swearing at your child. But I don't agree with what he did. At the same time, that parent was also extremely recalcitrant, it is not OK to swear at children. The bystanders intervened, it's the organizers' job to ensure security
– Vasile Maftei, director of Rapid Academy, November 4
The rapid plans to kick out the bully's son
Victor Marin, 16 years old, could be excluded from Rapid because of the attitude adopted by his father in Craiova
But what repercussions will the episode have at the level of the Rapid opposite the appearance of Victor Marin's father? “I will have a discussion with those involved. I will explain to them that it is not OK what they did, that they should not have reacted like that. We will see what will happen”, was the position of Vasile Maftei, the head of the center for children and juniors in Giulești.
GSP sources show that Rapidul is seriously considering including the option of kicking him out because of his father's attitude, which exposed the club to a sensitive public position. “We had some discussions, they told me that some measures will be taken, but I can neither confirm nor deny this information. No comment!”, Ciprian Ecobici limited himself to declaring.
Victor Marin, 16 years old, striker, came a season and a half ago to Rapid, from FCSB, with whom he won two titles in the Elite League. He repeated the performance in Giulesti. In the red-blue team, he was a colleague of Andrei Dăncuș, the central defender who had already joined the circuit of the big team, under the command of Elias Charalambous.
