“It won't stay like this, Catea will have a hard fight with me!” vs “If I release Simion's file, the world would be shocked by how much money he took from the awards”

A battle that had been burning smoldering for several years between the two, according to the accounts of some sources from the world of boxing, who revealed that “those from the federation worked on Dorel a long time ago. They took them from the athletes, took them to other parts. They left him only the two with whom he said he would reach the Olympics in 2028.

They didn't give him anything, he was there alone, at “Lia Manoliu”, only him with the athletes, no opponents for sparring, no masseur, they didn't approve training sessions. They were convinced that under these conditions Dorel would reach saturation and leave alone”.

Dorel Simion: “They removed me without telling me why”

The uproar in boxing continues even now, after Dorel Simion, former world and European champion, found out that he was fired from the position he held, for now without any official, written explanations.

In a dialogue with GSP.ro, the former bronze medalist at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games explained that “following the decision of the Federal Bureau, dated December 11, in which I did not participate, they decided that I should be replaced at the National Olympic Center for Youth Training, next to COSR, where I had two athletes, whom I have been training for 4 years.

It is about Florin Ioniță (20 years old) and Arun Tudoroiu (19 years old). I don't know who made this proposal, how it was voted on, because no one communicated anything to me. And now, my athletes, the ones I was preparing for the 2028 Olympics, were called to Brăila, to the senior team. But without me.

So how does this come about?! They are going to be coached by a Cuban they brought in last year. So I'm no longer at CNOPT, nor at the lot, I'm nowhere. I don't know why, how this was decided, for what reasons. I'm still waiting for official clarifications.”

“They took away my right to take my athletes to the Olympics!”

Dorel Simion says that “I had results with the two of them, but not in the last year. I went to the U23 European Championships with them and only managed a 5th place with Arun. He lost the medal place, 3-2 decision, with some refereeing problems.

But in recent years, Florin Ioniță was the European youth champion, he won bronze at the World Youth Championships, with me as a coach. And Arun Tudoroiu, also with me, was European youth vice-champion.

Two very good children, with whom I climbed. And now they have taken away my right to go forward with them, to prepare them for the Olympics. The reasons? Only the president Vasile Cátea knows them!”.

He was a coach at the junior team, then at the youth team, and for a year or so, Dorel Simion was at CNOPT. He says that “I haven't been to the lot, I told them to let me work with these two boys and I'm going to take them to the Olympics.

Anyway, since these Olympic training centers appeared, for 12-13 years, no athlete from there has reached the most important competition. But now they decided to put me aside. I don't know why? I am also waiting for their motivation.

And after that I will say more about what is happening in Romanian boxing. I ended up quoting Rudel Obreja, who said that “Vasile Câtea, this functional illiterate, is not able to lead the federation!”.

“It won't stay like this, Catea will have a hard fight with me!”

The coach continued in the same tone: “I really could do something with these children, give them from my knowledge, from my experience. Now what about me?! With my family, which I sacrificed, staying in training camps, for so many years?! I also gave money from myself for the training camp in Spain.

After I receive the motivation for my removal, I will hold a press conference. Let me explain what happens when we no longer have qualified boxers or medalists at the Olympic Games. He would have been angry with me because last year I went to a podcast with Narcis Șelaru and said something, that there are no conditions, that there are no projects, that Vasile Câtea is a good boy, but that's it, plus more of that.

But they are true, I have proof. And I think that bothered them. I know they wanted to suspend me ever since. Anyway, Catea must know that she's going to have a hard fight with me, that I won't leave things like that! All that remains for me is to prepare the two children separately and go out with them”.

Vasile Câtea: “Dorel Siminon did not present the report for 2025, nor the preparation plan for 2026!”

Vasile Câtea, president of FR Box

GSP.ro got in touch with Vasile Câtea, the president of FR Box, who explained the reasons for Dorel Simion's removal from CNOPT: “He was supposed to come to that BF, submit a report for 2025 and present the preparation plan for 2026 to COSR. But he didn't come and didn't send anything.

His athletes did not even participate in that national championship organized in Târgui Mureș in December. And if there was no one to undertake these things, I thought it could not go on. There are several things that led to this decision. But the last one was this, that he did not present the plan for 2026. And we made the decision to replace him.

He was the only Olympic center or team coach who did not present the plan for 2026. Plus, at the U23 European Championships, he did not meet the goal of bringing at least one medal. Yes, his main goal is the Olympics, but the rest of the goals are intermediate.

We had a discussion and I told him that, given the way he presents his students and how much money is spent, he must bring a European title. But the minimum was to come away with at least a medal, and the other athlete to pass two games. That's right, it was a goal set verbally, not on paper.

But there is another problem. At least with me, he has a very hard time communicating. He didn't make a phone call, he only sent dry addresses to the federation, I didn't know what he was doing, where he was doing it and how he was doing it”.

“We couldn't approve the training camp in England, to take the athletes there to test them for the pros!”

Referring to Dorel Simion's complaints about training conditions and training camps, Câtea says that “everything he asked for was given to him. In relation to that training camp in England, it could not be approved in the conditions he requested.

He wanted a camp there, for three months, at some crazy prices. And he was going to England with the two athletes to test them, to see if they were accepted to the professionals there. I could not accept such a thing. We do not train athletes so that others can take them ready-made for professionals and not be able to benefit from the goals that he himself proposed with them, not someone else.

And with the camp in Spain, there were some compensation issues with the Spanish. We still have some money to recover from them and it went into that account. He probably paid some money too, but I don't know exactly why, because too much time has passed.

As for the reproach that he was not notified of the decision of the Federal Bureau, this happens because he does not answer the phones, we cannot get in touch with him!”.

“And if you're the best, if you don't prepare for the lot, you don't participate in international competitions!”

At the Federal Office in December, it was decided to merge the group of seniors in Brăila, where the two athletes trained by Dorel Simion will also arrive. The president of FR Box explained that “we will also keep the Olympic center in Bucharest, where another coach will be appointed and other athletes will come.

Those trained by Dorel, Ioniță and Tudoroiu, go to the lot because they can no longer be sponsored by COSR, if they did not have results for 2025. We summoned them. If they want to come, fine, if not, so be it. If they have results in 2026, they could be supported by COSR again.

Our rule is simple. You can't just sit isolated at a center or club and ask for money, with the promise that you will reach the Olympics, but you don't prove anything. You have to prepare for the team, for the coaches to know you, to know your qualities, your potential, to be able to make a training plan, to know how much and what each one can do.

Even if you are the national champion or the best in the category, in order to participate in international competitions, you have to be in the lot. It can't be done otherwise!”.

“You can see changes in mentality, involvement in the game, with the Cuban Salazar”

Câtea also added that “I brought the Cuban Alexi Salazar to the senior team because we found that in Romania there are no coaches who are totally dedicated. They all want to have centers in the city, to bring athletes from the area. But that didn't work.

Perhaps that is why these Olympic centers have not yet produced athletes who reach the Olympics. And we thought about a variant of a foreign coach for the lot. The results of 2025 are not due to Salazar, because he just arrived, but a change of attitude, of mentality, in the way of involvement can be seen.

It is not true that I took it randomly, from the Internet, as I hear others say. In 2024, at the Youth World Cup in Montenegro, he was the coordinating coach of the Cuban team. There I met him and started talking with him.

He is the type who stays with the athletes 365 days a year, 24 out of 24. And he has intermediate goals, every year, not just qualifying the athletes for the Olympic Games.”

“If I pull out Dorel Simion's file, the world would be shocked at how much money he took from the prizes, even though he wouldn't have deserved it!”

Hearing Dorel Simion's warning that he will have a tough fight with him because of this dismissal, Vasile Câtea reacted: “If I get down to it and pull out Dorel Siminon's premiership record from 2022 onwards, it would shock a lot of people, how much money he collected.

Money that, in fact, he does not deserve. But because he was a federal secretary, he was passed over to the state of premiers in all batches. Something that is not really Orthodox, after all. He kept hitting me and I kept quiet. He said that the best president of the boxing federation was Rudel Obreja.

But Obreja kicked him out. And I brought him back because I believed in him and still believe he has potential. But you also have to have character. If you have no character… may God forgive me…

Yes, now, Dorel Simion is no longer a coach at the Olympic center, nor at the lot. I have no problem if Salazar gets him, to help him in the lot. That I don't get involved. I never imposed on him who to work with either. If he is accepted into the lot, very good, let him talk to Salazar!”.