One of the great teams of European football has vanished.Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest have had their identity stripped by a court, leaving the club with no name, no badge and no club colours.
In a historic decision last week, a court in Romania upheld a claim from the Romanian army that Steaua had encroached on their intellectual property, and as a result the Bucharest giants have lost their club identity.
Playing against CSMS Iasi on Sunday night, the 1986 European champions were forced to playing in yellow instead of their famous red and blue shirts, while they were presented by the stadium’s announcer as “the champions of Romania” rather than their lost name of Steaua.
Moreover, the scoreboard read “hosts”, while club’s badge was left as an empty square.
According to reports, Steaua’s nameless predicament will remain unless the club can reach an agreement with the defence ministry for the use of their trademark.
