Reversal of the situation! Gică Popescu wanted to “put the lock”, but the 70 million euro project FAILED

To be sure, the current president of Farul considered this option 7-8 months ago, considering the losses every year, but in the end he gave up the idea of ​​putting the lock on the academy.

The land on which the investment would be made has an area of ​​two hectares and is located in a well-connected area of ​​Craiova, near the Airport and Hanul Doctorului Park. The space served the football academy named after Gică Popescu for the last 26 years.

Paul Răducan announces that the “Gică Popescu” Academy remains standing

“No, he's not giving up on the Academy, I'm sure that, really, about 6-7-8 months ago he had in mind a real estate project on that land.

Because he thought, not necessarily financially, but it's very, very expensive to maintain. It is also about fees and taxes, so that it comes in, year after year, knowingly, with more expenses than it produces. I mean even knowingly.

Then he had to at least think about replacement. But since then and until now things have changed completely. It stays the way it is. I actually talked to him the other day earlier in the week. He said that things remain as they are and that we continue to play football.

In case, however, although I understand that it's hypothetical, if it comes back and we have to build here, which I don't think, we already have a much bigger land, another 4 times bigger. 100,000 meters.

We have 20,000 meters here. So it would be 4 times bigger So really it would be a dream to be able to organize training and so on on such a basis. It's 10 hectares, to be more precise. 10 hectares fixed. It would indeed be another 5-6 minute drive from where the academy is now located.

The variant with the real estate project failed. Not that he is stagnant, but I asked him directly to say. Because if we're going to know, if we start, he said he's coming here and he's going to see what it's all about. He came to Craiova, he saw that field, really, 3-4 months ago. I don't think he will start making changes.

And he says he doesn't believe it. That's what I thought then, that's what I said, he made a calculation, a sketch and said it's ok like that. And later, I'm sure he also felt sorry, it's hard, it's not easy, that after 30 years… We moved here in 2000. So in 1999 we bought, we built for a year, and in 2000 we moved here”, said Paul Răducan, for GSP.ro, regarding the situation of the Academy in the south of the country.

Paul Răducan, manager “Gică Popescu” Football Academy

“Gică Popescu” Academy, in the red in 2025

Gică Popescu's idea to close the academy was motivated by its financial balance, year after year there were losses.

“The loss was not big in 2025, somewhere around 35,000-40,000 euros. At the junior level, for one year, the loss is significant and especially when you look a little ahead, you see that nothing is visible, on the contrary, taxes have increased, taxes have increased, for us and for everyone. So, surely you are thinking in the context in which everything is increasing.

This is the point that hurts me the most, I repeat that it was misunderstood from Gică Popescu's statement. We continue in the very long term at the base where we are now, at the Gică Popescu Football Academy, a club that also bears his name. He's proud of himself, I think that's what made him screw up,” Răducan said.

Gică Popescu would have wanted to turn the football academy into a real estate project

A new debut at the Lighthouse is expected

Currently, 200 children and juniors are registered at the “Baciului” Academy. And the expectations from them are high. In the near future, even in the current competitive season, Paul Răducan claims that a new debut at Farul is expected, of a kid born in 2008, who left Craiova 3 years ago.

“200 children are now at the Academy. Of course we have variants that in the future could appear in the first league. We have, because we cannot keep them until they are 19 years old, that others at 19 play in the first league, and that is why we keep them somewhere until they are 17 years old, in junior B, those from U17. And in the older ones, we look at those who were already supposed to explode. And we, giving them to other teams, we also give some percentages, with our football interests.

We have them under supervision for 6-7 years, we know what qualities they have, we also know the frequency of their progression, i.e. which have really progressed, not which have gone like a snail. Then, those who have gone a bit slow, it means that they are limited, and surely they cannot surpass League 3, at most League 2. We are not warmed by this, because we are a school that has to produce between 2 and 3 players per year. A lot, it means a lot.

If we consider it a coincidence, that they promoted 3 players in one year, yes, but to be an average it is a lot, that is somewhere out of 68 players who promoted in League 1, it is enormous, enormous.

Who knows something like that, it's huge. You look at a club or a sports association, and the important thing is that they also promoted a player, a player debuted in League 1. And mother, we are talking about football, we at 68 means that we should make statues of ourselves, let's not talk about football, let's talk about swimming…

We have players from the academy in the first team of Craiova, at the moment, the goalkeeper Laurentiu Popescu, Tudor Băluță, and here are the basic people. They are our players and we are proud of them.

Tudor Băluță, celebrating the goal against CFR // photo: Andrei Furnigă (GSP)

And we also have Hagi, a player born in 2008 will appear, for sure, maybe even two, but one for sure, it's 100%. They are all friends with me from there, from Hagi, to the storekeeper, and they told me that they are going to promote this season… It's about Caldăraru. It has been three years since he left us, where he stayed for 6, he came as a child,” Răducan added, in the interview given to GSP.ro.