What's In A Team's Colors? | SoccerNation's Blog

Six points and a chance at a league title apparently.

After the end of a phenomenal Champions League final, my anticipation for next year's Champions League had already started. So I started checking a few sites to establish who had qualified from what countries. I came across a very interesting point deduction suffered by a Romanian team.

FC Timisoara has had six points deducted from their total this year due to a problem with their team name and team colors. The dispute centers around which team in Romanian owns the rights to the name, logo, colors, and records of the old club AS FC Politechnica Timisoara. Two separate teams in Romania claimed to own those rights: The first club was founded in 2002 and is currently in the first division. It was originally called "FC Poli 2002" but later changed its name to "FCU Politechnica Timisoara" and is currently "FC Timisoara." The team actually plays in Timisoara, Romania. The other club was founded in 2003 and is currently playing in the fourth division under the name "FC Politechnica Timisoara" even though it is actually based near Bucharest.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the club founded in 2003 owned the rights to the team name, logo, and colors. It ordered FC Timisoara to change its team name, logo, and colors in April 2008. While the team did change its name and logo, FIFA ruled that the team had not adquately complied with the CAS Decision to change the team colors.

FIFA docked the team six points in September 2008.

With two games left in the Romanian Liga 1 season, FC Timisoara is five points out of first place. Without the deductions, they'd be in first place with a great shot at the Liga 1 title and Champions League football in September. Instead, they'll likely finish third and wind up in the Europa League.

The lesson as always is do not mess with FIFA.

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May 29, 2009 05:12 PM ET

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FC Unirea Unicrezi (?) has 66 points, Dinamo Bucaresti has 65. Two games left to play. Timisoara has 61 points, but would have 67 if not for the six point deduction.

I can't really approve of FIFA's actions. Giving the name of a historical club to an owner whose team plays on the other side of the country from the team's name is messed up. It's like if the Green Bay Packers moved to Las Vegas, but kept calling themselves the Green Bay Packers.