“Otherwise we won't produce results”

The general secretary of the LPF calls for the waiver of the obligation and proposes a financial stimulus model inspired by Austria, while criticizing the underfunding of academies and investments “in storefronts without factories”.

“Today, the car doesn't work.” This is the harsh diagnosis given by Justin Ștefan to Romanian football, in a dialogue with Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, on “Ovidiu's Friends”. The LPF official speaks out against the current Under 21 rule, accuses the lack of a real development strategy and argues that the FRF should reward clubs that nurture youngsters, not force them through regulation.

– Mr. Stefan, what is your point of view regarding the Under 21 rule?
– When this rule came, it has the sports plan in mind. However, as long as the economic plan and the institutional plan are not resolved, this Under 21 rule cannot produce results. Because look at what Ligue 1 clubs do with more or less success: they try to get around this rule as much as possible. You've seen some use the Under 21 goalkeeper, then realize it's not necessarily the best decision. So it is clear that it is not a rule that is embraced by everyone today.

– Yes, yes.
– Look at the Austrian model. 8-10 years ago they came with a technical director, that technical director came up with a philosophy for what the sporting plan means and said in the following way: “From now on, all the clubs in the first league are rallying around this sporting plan”. And as far as the use of Under 21 players is concerned, it was not a mandatory thing, it was a prize thing to the extent that part of the money…

“Super League clubs put 13 million euros into academies”

– Exactly, you use them, you get money.
– The algorithm is very simple: how many minutes of use is an Under 21 player, how many minutes have you used him during a competitive season and goodbye. Nobody says we have to direct 50% of the money. 3%, 5%, 7%, 10% can be targeted at first.

– I understand, yes.
– And there's one more thing about the Under 21 rule. Production plants are underfunded mechanisms. Because if we look at the year 2024, the Super League clubs put 13 million euros into the academies. Well, if we look in the window? The National Arena cost over 200 million, Ghencea cost around 100 million…

– We make stadiums where there are no teams. We are building two modern stadiums in Târgoviște, we are building in Târgu Jiu…
– Two problems here! One we have storefronts without having factories, and two, we thought of stadiums the wrong way. Why? Because I didn't think of them as making money day in and day out, seven days out of seven.

Justin Ștefan: “I am against this rule. It must be reconsidered!”

– It's really hilarious at one point to wake up that in the same city, such as Târgoviște, the local bodies build a stadium, the national bodies build the second stadium.
– It's an interesting matter there. Let's hope that one of the stadiums and maybe the adjacent fields, if there are any, will be put under the administration of a football academy and Târgovişte will become a training pole for young players, as Gică Hagi's Lighthouse has become.

– Taking off this robe of general secretary of the Professional League, are you for or against the current Under 21 rule?
– The way the mechanism works today, I am against this rule. She must be reconsidered! It is not right to go in the area of ​​obligation. It is right to go to the area where, how should I say, we facilitate the performance. If you force people to do something, OK, they'll do it, but they'll swear at you around corners or try to get around the rule.

Gică Hagi and Răzvan Burleanu / PHOTO: Ionuț Iordache (GSP.ro)

– But that requires the Federation to give them money. Or the Federation likes to take money, not give.
– The Romanian Football Federation should get more involved in this mechanism that produces performance. That's my conclusion and perhaps the criticism I'm coming down to today: I didn't produce a performance. We honestly have to ask ourselves why we didn't produce. I think that no matter who is at the Romanian Football Federation, they must start from this X-ray and come up with solutions. I have two examples of people who have always been principled, including in public speaking.

“We need to see how we make the machine work”

– Please.
– Mircea Lucescu, may God rest him!, because if we look at his speech in recent years, he always spoke of principles. And Gică Hagi, if we look at his public speech, at the book he edited a few years ago, he talks about principles. If we don't talk about principles, philosophy, mechanisms, we won't produce results. Either we wake up and start talking about what we need to talk about at the management, administration level, or if not, the person will change at some point, but the problems will remain.

– That's right.
– That it's Burleanu, that it's Gică Hagi, that it's Gino Iorgulescu, that it's anyone else… They are drivers who are provided with a car. Or if the car is not good, no matter who the driver is, it cannot produce results. It's the same with the national team. Mircea Lucescu, Edi Iordănescu, maybe Gică Hagi, are drivers. If you don't provide them with the right machinery, we won't get results.

Gica Hagi

– Things are not that simple. Because it's not only about the driver, it's also about how good the car is, how old it is…
– Yes, first of all it's about how good the car is. We need to see how we make the car work and how good it is. Today the car is not working. So for nothing we talk about X, Y or Z. Drivers don't matter that much. It matters if they also come with principles. There were a few principled drivers, I mentioned them.