Steaua Bucharest Lose Rights To Identity Following Court Ruling

In Romanian soccer, there is no club bigger than FC Steaua Bucharest. They’ve won the most domestic titles in Romanian soccer history, and have the historic distinction of being the first Eastern European team to win the European Cup (known now as the UEFA Champions League). But now, Romania’s biggest club no longer has a name, logo, or even colors after they were stripped of all of those facets of their identity following a loss in trademark court.

From the article:

Romania’s most famous club, who were founded in 1947 as an army side, had their registration cancelled by Romania’s highest court on Wednesday after losing a battle over their trademark with the country’s defence ministry.
The ministry had first resorted to law in 2011, saying the club had used the Steaua brand illegally since 2004. The court verdict effectively left the most popular and successful club in Romanian football as a team with no name.

So as a result, instead of taking to the pitch wearing their traditional red-and-blue colors with the name and crest plastered all over the place, the team took to the field wearing their secondary color of yellow, had blank squares covering any logos in the stadium, and referred to as either “The Champions of Romania” or simply as “Hosts” during their most recent home match.

Fortunately, the club was granted a reprieve for a recent Europa League match and could potentially regain their identity should they reach an agreement with the Romanian defense ministry, but that’ll probably be difficult considering the fact that the article also notes that the club’s owner and general manager are both currently in jail.

Yeah, this is a mess. The only comparison that I can think of right now would be if the University of Minnesota had gotten their way and found a way to make Washington wear logo-less throwbacks, but even then, that would’ve only lasted a week. But for the most popular team in that country to lose the rights to their own visual identity for the foreseeable future is absolute madness.