Unprecedented crisis scenario at Steaua! The budget is cut by 12 million euros, several sports departments could disappear
Article by Marius Mărgărit – Published Friday, February 20, 2026, 3:06 p.m. / Updated Friday, February 20, 2026, 3:06 p.m.
At the order of the new Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, an unprecedented financial control is underway at the Steaua club, which will verify how the money was managed in the book, given that only the budget for 2025 was 32 million euros.
The action is extremely broad and on several levels, involving three entities of the Ministry of the Army, the Internal Audit Department, the Minister's Control and Inspection Body, but also the Anti-Fraud Department.
Because Minister Miruță has already made public some of the identified problems: the too high rent from the arena in Ghencea, compared to other stadiums, the rental of the hall from Chiajna, at prices five times higher than those set by the hosts, at the level of the local Council, or exceeding the legal financial ceilings for travel to international competitions.
35% lower budget
Thus, the project with obtaining the right to promote the football team, is likely to be put on the back burner. Because sources from the world of sports revealed to GSP.ro that “each of these control entities does its own investigation.
And, from what is heard, it is very possible that, following the administrative irregularities found in the club, the budget will be drastically cut, compared to the one in 2025. They are discussing a reduction of about 35% lower, i.e. to reach around 20 million euros.
And that would mean drastically reducing the activity or even closing some sports sections that either have no basis to carry out their activity, or have far below standard results in recent years.
There is nothing officially announced, because the budget for 2026 has not been established even at the country level, but under these conditions, it would be about such a cut of public funds”.
GSP.ro sources: “Only 37-38% of the budget remains for sports”
The same sources claim that “the picture with the 32 million euros, which was the budget of the Steaua club last year, is a little distorted, because there are 34 sports sections. Of this whole budget, around 45% goes to the salaries of the employees.
Then a good part is for the maintenance and administration of the 9 bases of the club. It is about the stadium, the swimming pool, the sports bases from Săftica, Forban, from Plevnei, the ski complex from Predeal, the nautical base from Mangalia, the “Mihai Viteazul” hall where basketball and volleyball are played, as well as the military unit where the club's headquarters are located.
Practically, only about 12 million euros remain for sports activity. Compared to other clubs under public law, such as CS Dinamo, CSM Bucharest, CSM U Craiova, Corona Brașov, CSM Constanța or others, which have several sections, Steaua is even lower in terms of financing exclusively for sports.
Football gives the most money, two million euros. But for other sports, the amounts are much smaller, compared to those allocated for women's handball at CSM Bucharest, Rapid or Gloria Bistrița, or for men's handball at CS Dinamo”.
According to the website of the Ghencea club, on October 15, 2025, Steaua had 414 employees with employment contracts, employed as officers. The vast majority of athletes, who are paid under sports activity contracts, do not fall into this category.
