Article by Narcis Drejan – Published Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 2:51 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, December 10, 2025, 2:52 p.m.
According to a ghetto-Dacian custom, at the Romanian Rowing Federation all the employees got prizes, even the reeds from the Snagov lake would have been awarded, but no one asked them how much money went into their accounts
God, God, what is happening to this country and its sport? I, like everyone else, have read the report of the Court of Accounts and it seems to me that I am living in an absurd fairy tale, where the Olympic performance is just a pretext for the federations' employees to fill their pockets. There is still talk of austerity, of tightening all the belts, but through the sports federations the bills are flowing saying that it is Las Vegas for free money.
You take medals, because we are awarding the Fochists
At the Romanian Rowing Federation, in the years 2021 and 2024, total premiums of almost 2.5 million lei, i.e. about 492,000 euros, were awarded to people who, legally, had nothing to do with the medals brought by the athletes. They had no job descriptions to justify the contribution, there were no clear award criteria, there was nothing. He simply took the money and shared it.
And who was at the helm? Mrs. Elisabeta Lipă, president of the federation, now PSD deputy. After Tokyo 2021, he handed over 831,000 lei to the administrative staff, president, chief accountant, but also the stoker, the cook and the guards on the Danube, from Orșova. Maybe the fish from Pantelimon and Snagov sent their electronic invoices to e-Invoice and got their share too.
3 years later, after Paris 2024, the amount doubled: 1.6 million lei to the staff. The amounts for those who do nothing concrete varied between 200 and 10,000 euros. The consultants and the chief accountant got the biggest bonuses, 100,000 and 86,800 euros, but the rest… it's like giving corn to bears and tea to parrots.
The athlete struggles for all employees
I do not dispute the merit of the athletes. On the contrary. Those who shoot frames, who sweat on the lake, who risk their careers and bodies for medals, deserve all the respect and bonus possible. But how do you justify awarding an accountant, a cook or a cook with the same amounts? What concrete contribution did they have to the Olympic silver or gold?
It's an absurd paradox, brothers, real performance is rewarded on paper, while the financial reality shows that public money went to people who produced nothing.
And this is where the real Romania comes in, the one you don't see on TV, the one where the system rewards formality and not merit. Where performance translates into money only for some and the rest get the attendance bonus. It's subtle, systemic corruption, done with invoices, documents and initials, not with a gun and blackmail, but just as effective. Romania that steals the athlete's performance and turns it into an administrative bonus.
Yes, give to the sport, give to the country, give to the performance, but not like this. Not rewarding those who stay far from the boat, not giving hundreds of thousands of euros to people who don't produce medals. Sport must be respected, not looted under the guise of respect.
Elisabeta Lipă Photo: FR Canotaj
And what do we do with the money?
And let's not forget what follows: the Court of Accounts demands the restitution of the sums to ANS, and ANAF and the Prosecutor's Office will be notified. We will probably witness a show where appeals are made, bureaucratic explanations are given and justifications are invented. Until then, however, Romania is left with the knowledge that the prizes for rowing went more to those who distribute invoices and sign registers, than to the people who actually pull the frames.
And look like this, in this country, where corruption is almost a tradition, the real “champions” shoot the frames, and the Fochists draw the bills. And, as Marian Ceaușescu used to say: “Give, well, the money, well, to the poor people!”
