Article by Ovidiu Minea – Published Saturday, February 21, 2026, 4:54 p.m. / Updated Saturday, February 21, 2026, 4:55 p.m.
The traces of the disaster left on the playing surface of the “Emil Alexandrescu” Stadium in Iași by the rugby players from the Romanian and Belgian national teams, who faced each other in Copou last Sunday, were still visible today, at the duel between Politehnica Iași and Olimpia Satu Mare, in the 2nd Football League.
Politehnica Iași started the year perfectly in League 2 and won 2-0 against the newly promoted Olimpia Satu Mare.
Tibor Selymes, after Poli Iasi 2-0 Satu Mare: “You can barely walk on the field!”
The pitch was practically a quagmire for large stretches, and the home team's coach, Tibor Selymes, said at the end:
“From the outside you can see that the pitch has held up well. But, when you go and step on the grass and see that you can barely walk, it's not easy to run for 90 minutes“.
And the technician of the guests, Alexandru Botoș, referred to the field: “Because of the quality of the turf, which was torn up in the second half, there were a lot of wrong passes. I congratulate the authorities here who worked after the turf was torn up by the rugby match, they tried their best to keep the turf in its best condition“.
A deputy accuses: “Jalea in all her ugliness”
The condition of the lawn in Copou also generated the reaction of deputy Ciprian Paraschiv, who requested that Novak's order regarding the use of 40% Romanian athletes by all clubs in Romania become law. Former footballer and president of Poli, Paraschiv launched a harsh attack on his Facebook page.
A deputy, former international observer, accuses:
“The day of the Poli Iași – Olimpia Satu Mare match came and the disaster of our stadium's administration hit reality. We all knew it would be like this, but I for one avoided making a statement before the game, for two reasons.”
Although all my experience as a former player, manager and UEFA delegate in football told me that it was impossible for the pitch to look even decent, it was fair and just to wait until match time. Then, I wanted to eliminate from the start any voices that would have accused me of my approach, you will see below, be it politician, populist or demagogic.
Here: we have the reality! Mourning in all its ugliness, incompetence and indifference to the Iesians and their money, in all its pain! Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of euros invested in this lawn over the last few years… for this?!” said Paraschiv.
Burleanu's former right-hand man is asking for an investigation
Ciprian Paraschiv, who was also the development director of the Romanian Football Federation, added: “Many, few, the chances of Poli catching the League 2 play-offs have been complicated by the very people who should support and they are responsible for the destinies of the club!
Even a junior knows that when you need a win, when you play a team at the bottom of the table and have a value advantage, the pitch needs to look as good as possible so you can build and attack. That's why the grounds have been groomed all winter. It's just…someone else decided to play rugby on it first!
Well, I won't leave it at that! These days I will support the launch of an investigation, through a political statement in Parliament and interpellation to all the authorities and institutions involvedso that the people of Iași will find out the truth and the guilty will pay.”
Damage recovery is required!
Ciprian Paraschiv asked for clarification of the following issues:
“Who approved the organization of a rugby match in February, when we all know the weather in Romania, when the pitch had been maintained precisely because of its problematic situationand when it has been clear for a long time that this rugby match is coming on the regular season finale of League 2 for the Poles?
Why wasn't there an attempt to move the rugby match to another stadium and another city, in advancebut was this needlessly forced at the level of Poli's match?
What does the contract by which the rugby match was organized look like in its entirety: does it include the natural clause of handing over the arena in the conditions in which it was received (including the condition of the turf) or not? And if not, why? Who took this on?”
The deputy also requested “holding those responsible for this situation accountable, assessing the damage caused and recovering the damagecompared to the hundreds of thousands of euros of Iași people's money invested in the lawn in recent years”, concluded the deputy.
