Article by Cosmin Nistor – Published on Thursday, 13 November 2025, 23:08 / Updated on Thursday, 13 November 2025 23:09
The bankruptcy of AFC Dinamo, the entity that owned the famous emblem with two red dogs, opens a new controversial chapter in the history of the club from Ștefan cel Mare. The logo is to be put up for auction, and the former player of the “dogs”, Dănuț Lupu (58 years old), claims that there are already teams interested in bidding.
On November 12, the court officially declared AFC Dinamo bankrupt, after the receiver requested the opening of the procedure, citing the association's inability to pay its debts and non-compliance with the reorganization plan.
Dănuț Lupu is convinced: “The logo will be wanted by those in League 1!”
The former midfielder of the “dogs” states that the interest is huge and that there is a risk that Dinamo will no longer be able to use the traditional emblem.
“The logo will be auctioned. I don't know a price, but she will be wanted by those in League 1. I have the impression that now they (No. Dinamo) are no longer allowed to use it.
There are terms and conditions that I don't own,” said Dănuț Lupu, according to iamsport.ro.
Lupu also claims that Nicolae Badea (77 years old) would have tried to pay AFC's debts, but ANAF would not have accepted this option.
The logo chaos at Dinamo: a postponed rebranding
More than three years ago, Dinamo Bucharest organized a vote on the official Facebook page, where the representative supporters of DDB, the legends of the club, the most important players from the team at that time, some of the coaches from the junior groups, as well as the representatives of the marketing department of the club had to choose, from five options, the new emblem of the club.
The logo chosen by Dinamo in 2022
The whole process took about a week, and the end result was a shield-shaped logo with an imposing letter “D” in the middle and gold edges.
Although it was announced that the new logo will be used for the first time at the end of May 2022, the same year in which Dinamo was relegated, it seems that the team from Ștefan cel Mare was able to continue using the famous logo with the two red dogs.
I would like to make a clarification. It is about the prohibition to use the phrase «FC Dinamo», not «Dinamo». The Dinamo brand is not an exclusive brand, it is also owned by other entities. It is, first of all, about the commercial use of the logo with the red dogs, not about the name Dinamo, because, in the end, it doesn't matter if it is FC or CS. The name Dinamo is important, but we are talking about using the logo for commercial purposes.
I have to say that this confusion, with several clubs bearing the name Dinamo, is not a situation we want. For quite some time we have started steps for a rebranding, especially considering the fact that Dinamo 1948 does not have the current logo, which is quite old. The logo will probably change, to make things clear, because currently there are too many teams that bear the name Dinamo.
– declared Răzvan Zăvăleanu, the judicial administrator of Dinamo, in 2022
What happens to Dinamo if it can no longer use the historical logo?
If the team from Ștefan cel Mare does not win the auction:
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would no longer be able to use the logo on equipment;
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would lose the right to commercial exploitation (merchandising, branding);
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would have to definitively adopt a new emblem.
