Article by Sergiu Alexandru – Published Friday, 01 May 2026, 11:05 / Updated Friday, 01 May 2026 11:08
Ilie Dumitrescu, who holds the position of Player Transition Manager, being one of the liaisons between the FRF and the professional clubs in Romania, revealed that he proposed a new rule.
10 years since the FRF introduced the U21 rule, the former international great believes it should be changed. And not as some of the clubs would like, who want to waive the obligation to use a player eligible for the national under-21 team for the entire duration of the match.
Ilie Dumitrescu reveals: “We proposed to have the U20 rule”
The former member of the Golden Generation revealed that he would like the U21 rule to change to the U20 rule, which would see the player's age drop. However, the change would be made in several years.
“It is the ultimate goal of every Academy. To have at least one player in the big team. A lot of money is invested. For me, at 21-21 a player is already mature. There are already 18-year-old players who make a difference in the Champions League and there are plenty of examples. It is important, for the development of football, that as many players from the academies appear as possible. It is also in FIFA's interest.
I also said, even before I arrived at the Federation, that the U21 rule helps a lot of young people to play football in the big team. And we have examples. We have Man, we have Moruțan and there are other examples
I proposed that in 2031-20233 it should be U20. If we're going to implement the Player Transition Manager program, which I'm involved in, to develop the academies, we should have the U20s.
Between 2018 and 2024, in Europe, the average first-team debut was 19.83 years. A project cannot be developed for one year. We have to work on training the players. I say that 21 years is a big age for current football”, said Ilie Dumitrescu, according to digisport.ro.
