Article by Marius Mărgărit – Published on Sunday, 15 March 2026, 15:56 / Updated on Sunday, 15 March 2026 15:57
Costel Orac (67 years old), the former Dynamo international, was not among those who believe that there is a coalition of referees against his soul team.
But he draws attention that “it's not normal what's happening with the arbitration, and I'm referring to the general way, not just to Dinamo“.
Costel Orac does not explain his errors: “Either he is relaxing, or there are still games of interests”
Costel Orac watched the Rapid – Dinamo match and remembers that “it happened to others. That I just haven't forgotten what Radu Petrescu did in that Petrolul-FC Argeș. You get the feeling that the referees really do what they want.
And if you suspended Petrescu drastically, I think the same should be done with Istvan Kovacs. Even if he is our highest rated referee.
I can't compare with the referees of our time, with the mistakes of that time, but now they have the advantage of the VAR system. Stay like that, with a feeling that our referees do not make such big mistakes in the matches to which they are delegated abroad, but when they come to our championship they commit it seriously.
They are relaxing or there will be games of interests now tooI don't know. Although I refuse to believe that such a thing can still exist these days! Because, unfortunately, it doesn't just happen here. You saw what happened at Inter with Atalanta, including VAR“.
Costel Orac: “An example is needed, for the referees to wake up!”
Costel Orac warns that “the mistakes during the regular season fade, that it's a long championship. But now, in the play-offs, it's different. There are few matches, all the teams are there, within a few points. Things can get inflamed.
I don't think that Dinamo is not taken seriously, that it is not respected. I think football is not respected! Come on, the fact that the referee didn't see Borza's foul on Musi and didn't give a penalty is one thing. In the end he fixed it with VAR. But then, after Petrila's goal, I can't understand how another foul by Borza on Musi wasn't sanctioned.
It's so clear, Kovacs was well placed, how could you not see that?! He had to see without VAR. Okay, let's just say he didn't see it though. No problem, let VAR intervene. I'd be very curious what the dialogue between the referees was at that point. This transparency is needed, for the world to understand.
If the VARs didn't signal anything, it's serious, they should be suspended too. But if Kovacs was informed of this foul and didn't want to watch the replays, that's even worse! And an example must be set by the CCA, drastically, now that it is only the first stage of the play-off.
Let it be an example, let the referees wake up! That it is not normal for them, with their mistakes, to establish hierarchies. What are we doing, waiting for people to jump out of the stands and run after them?!
I don't think it will get here, but it's not normal. And so Romanian football has so many problems. He doesn't need that anymore either!”.
“Dinamo can still fight for the title!”
Orac also believes that “even after this defeat, I say that Dinamo can still fight for the title. Because the game, at least in the second half, was better, unlike what happened in the previous rounds.
And if it wasn't for this refereeing mistake, who knows how it would have ended. After a more closed first half, in which the teams seemed to study each other, the second half was different.
Open football, opportunities, goals. And I say that no one would be upset if Rapid or Dinamo had won. But let it be on football, not because the referee influenced the final score!”.
