Soccer-COVID-19 spike poses new threat to Romanian league

Dinamo Bucharest's home game against Hermannstadt on Friday has already been called off due to a large number of infections at Dinamo while Cluj's match against FC Botosani on Sunday is under threat of cancellation. "At the moment, I have enormous doubts that the current season in League 1 will end on the field, taking into account these cases that we have and that they are growing day by day," Romanian FA boss Razvan Burleanu told reporters.

The Romanian league, which resumed one and a half months ago, could be scrapped after dozens of COVID-19 cases hit several top-flight clubs, the country's football federation chief said on Friday. Several top division matches have already been postponed while a number of new infections have been reported at some of the leading teams.

Champions CFR Cluj was hit with more than 20 cases, while league leaders Universitatea Craiova also reported positive tests with their Italian coach Cristiano Bergodi among those infected. Cup winners FCSB, previously known as Steaua Bucharest, have also been affected. Dinamo Bucharest's home game against Hermannstadt on Friday has already been called off due to a large number of infections at Dinamo while Cluj's match against FC Botosani on Sunday is under threat of cancellation.

"At the moment, I have enormous doubts that the current season in League 1 will end on the field, taking into account these cases that we have and that they are growing day by day," Romanian FA boss Razvan Burleanu told reporters. UEFA have set an Aug. 3 deadline for national associations to enter teams for next season's European competitions. Bureau knows that another league suspension would force the Romanian soccer authorities to find a way to select their participants.

"There was a discussion with UEFA," said Bureau. "We know very well that the deadline cannot be negotiated. "At the moment nobody knows who will go to the Champions League and Europa League or who will be relegated."

Universitatea, searching for their first title since 1991, top the standings with 44 points, followed by Cluj, who have a game in hand, on 40. The virus has killed 2,150 people in the Black Sea state, which has more than 42,000 infections.

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