Article by Marius Mărgărit – Published Monday, January 19, 2026 23:32 / Updated Monday, January 19, 2026 23:32
Sources from the world of Romanian football claim that prior to the announcement made public in an interview for prosport.ro, the head of the LPF also presented this proposal within the FRF Executive Committee which took place in the last month of the previous year.
Gino Iorgulescu initiated the discussions to reduce the number of teams in the Superliga!
And that, at least at the discussion level, the members of this forum, including the president of the FRF, Răzvan Burleanu, would agree with the reduction from 16 to 12 teams in the Superleague.
Răzvan Burleanu and Gino Iorgulescu
The main arguments in support of this project remain those related to the lack of infrastructure, the extremely busy schedule, especially during the period of participation in the preliminary rounds of the European cups, but, last but not least, the distribution of money from TV rights to a smaller number of teams.
Because there are signals that the TV rights holders would not reduce the amount, but it would remain the same from the contract signed with LPF, even if it were about a slightly smaller number of parties.
Frozen ground in winter, hot summer
The biggest problem is the stadiums where Super League matches are played. Not all have the same standards when it comes to heating or changing room facilities.
Several clubs have complained to the LPF about the existing conditions at some arenas, but also because the matches in this first stage in 2026 were played in extreme temperatures, often beyond the freezing point.
And in the hot season there were complaints, due to the scheduling of some games at times when it was over 40 degrees, which means a great danger for the players.
What was just a project theme could turn into a new reality of Romanian football. And it is not at all out of the question that the FRF will adopt a new change to the competitive system, at the earliest in the 2027/2028 season.
Especially since now there were enough clubs who would have liked to postpone at least the January rounds. However, as there is not much data available, it was played in extremely difficult conditions. And it is not excluded that this situation will repeat itself.
We should do a 12-team championship. As you can see, there are not many teams, there are no stadiums, there are no conditions. And we're going to go to licensing, to set much tougher conditions so that it can work in League 1. There's another problem! When they play in European cups, we no longer have data to postpone some matches. If there were fewer teams, we would have enough data.
If we put on paper and are bright to perform as well, they should accept a 12-team championship. It would also finish the play-off and play-out at the same time and the values are also focused. The money is divided among fewer teams and there is more for each. And they can get more valuable players
– Gino Iorgulescu, LPF president
