Soccer-Romanian Cup final moved to Ploiesti to cut trips

"The desire to offer the finalists, whoever they may be, the possibility of shorter trips for the match was important in making the decision to move the match," the FRF said in a statement on Tuesday. Ploiesti is located 56 km north of Bucharest while Craiova is located 230 km west of the Romanian capital.

The Romanian Cup final will be played in Ploiesti instead of Craiova as the domestic football federation (FRF) acted to shorten the finalists' trip amid surge in the novel coronavirus cases in recent weeks. "The desire to offer the finalists, whoever they may be, the possibility of shorter trips for the match was important in making the decision to move the match," the FRF said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ploiesti is located 56 km north of Bucharest while Craiova is located 230 km west of the Romanian capital. One of the teams, competing in the final at the Ilie Oana Stadium on July 22 will definitely come from Bucharest. FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, face city rivals Dinamo in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday after a 3-0 win in the first leg.

Sepsi OSK, based in Sfantu Gheorghe, travel to Politehnica Iasi on Thursday after a comfortable 5-1 victory in the first leg. Sfantu Gheorghe is located 140 km north of Ploiesti. As of Tuesday, the Black Sea state recorded nearly 30,000 cases and almost 1,800 deaths from the coronavirus.

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