The historical records of the Steaua București football team are disputed by CSA Steaua București and Fotbal Club FCSB. Originally founded on June 7, 1947, as part of the multi-sports club run by the Romanian Ministry of National Defence, the football team became one of the most successful in Romanian history. The teams' most notable achievement was winning the European Cup in 1986, making it the first Eastern European team to do so, followed by the European Super Cup in 1987.
In the post-Ceaușescu era, the state continued to finance the club for some years, but in the late 1990s, clubs were asked to find alternative sources of funding.[2] In 1998, a new nonprofit organization, AFC Steaua București, was created in a privatization scheme under which the then Minister of National Defence, Victor Babiuc, granted the NGO the right to use the Steaua brand name and the Steaua Stadium, as well as Steaua's place in the Romanian first division, and its entire staff.[3]
In the early 2000s, AFC Steaua, under Viorel Păunescu, president of the new organization, began borrowing money from Gigi Becali. In exchange for the debts, Becali received federative rights over the players, along with the promise of receiving shares in the future. At the beginning of 2003, it was decided to establish FC Steaua București SA, a trading company in which AFC Steaua was one of the shareholders. This decision was made because the law prohibited AFC Steaua, as an NGO, from transforming into a trading company. Gigi Becali received 51% of the shares, AFC Steaua held 36%, Viorel Păunescu 6%, Victor Pițurcă 4%, and Lucian Becali 3%. The total value of the shares at that time was estimated at 10 million dollars.[4] The newly formed club formally requested permission from CSA Steaua to use the Steaua brand, similar to what AFC Steaua had done, but their request was denied.[5]
In 2011, CSA Steaua sued Becali's club, claiming that it had been using the brand illegally since 2004 and demanding that it be revoked. The request was denied by the Bucharest Tribunal on 17 April 2012, and the Court of Appeal upheld this decision on 20 December 2013. However, the High Court of Cassation and Justice overturned the decision.[6] On 3 December 2014, the High Court ruled that Becali's club had no right to use the team's name, colors or logo. The team was forced to play their next league game in an all-yellow strip instead of their usual red and blue, the name on the scoreboard read "Hosts", and an empty square showed instead of a logo.[7] On 30 March 2017, the club changed its name to Fotbal Club FCSB.[8]
In 2017, the Ministry of National Defence reactivated the CSA Steaua București football section and enrolled the team into the 2017-2018 Liga IV. This decision followed court rulings that recognized CSA Steaua as the rightful owner of the original club’s name, logo, and history.[9] As of now, CSA Steaua București competes in Liga II.[2] However, the club cannot currently be promoted to Liga I because Romanian law does not allow publicly-owned clubs to compete in the Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal competition.[10]
On 23 October 2023 the Bucharest Court of Appeal definitively ruled that CSA Steaua retains its records for the period between 1947 and 1998. The court also rejected the Army club's claim for the period between 1998 and 2003, which remains with the now defunct AFC Steaua, Viorel Păunescu's organization. In the same case, Gigi Becali's lawyers submitted a related request for sporting rights to the records from 2003 to 2017, which was also denied.[11]
At the end of May 2024, following the Court of Appeal ruling in October 2023, the Romanian Football Federation decided to inform UEFA about the recent decisions.[12] As of July 2024[update], UEFA has made no official statement on the FCSB vs. Steaua dispute, maintaining the status quo with its website listing FCSB as winners of the 1986 European Cup final.[13]
