Dinamo Bucharest, in the match with Craiova University, 21.04.2025. Photo: – / Alin Marinescu / Profimedia
Season 2025/2026 brings an improvement in terms of minutes offered to players with Romanian citizenship, out of a total of minutes, according to an Intelligence Center FRF analysis. After the first five stages of the season, 8 teams respected the 5+6 rule in all the matches played so far: Galati, Csikszereda, Rapid Bucharest, Petroleum 52, Dinamo Bucharest, Cluj University, Craiova University and UTA Arad.
Three teams, UTA, Cluj University and Craiova University, had only one match in which they did not comply with the rule, but the general percentage of compliance exceeds 75%, so they would not be subject to penalty, writes news.ro.
Oil was very close to respecting the rule even in the two parties in which it started with only 4 Romanian players. The changes made during the match led each time to the presence of at least 5 Romanian players on the field. Examples:
- Steel-Petroleum, 0-0: [5, 5, 7, 6]
- Oil-FCSB, 0-1: [4, 5, 5, 6]
- Metaloglobus-Oil, 0-3: [4, 6, 7, 7]
- Oil-UTA, 1-2: [5, 6, 5, 7]
- U Cluj-Oil, 1-1: [6, 5, 7, 9]
Compared to last season, 7 teams gave more time to play the Romanian footballers: Constanta Farul, Unirea Slobozia, FC Botosani, Craiova University, Uta Arad, Dinamo Bucharest and Oţelul Galaţi. Of these, Unirea Slobozia, FC Botosani and Otelul Galaţi registered significant increases, of over 5% of the total minutes played. The news is a bunch, after in the last 6 years the number has decreased constantly.
Rule 5+6 has an essential role in the development of Romanian long -term football. Through the obligation to use a minimum number of players eligible for the national team, the rule encourages clubs to give more time to Romanian footballers, especially to young people. This contributes to the formation and maturation of new generations of players, who can subsequently perform in European cups or to the national team.
