Burleanu re-elected in Romania

The 37-year-old European member of the FIFA Council was elected unopposed at the FRF’s general assembly at the Bucharest Arena Națională.

The son of a former footballer – his father Gheorghe Burleanu made more than 350 Romanian top-flight appearances – Burleanu, the first Romanian to be elected to the FIFA Council since the FRF joined the world body in 1923, looked back at eight years of achievement since he became FRF president in 2014.

"In this special year of 2022, when we celebrate 100 years of existence of the Romanian national team,” he said, “we don't need to feel ashamed to speak about our achievements and to emphasise all that we did and do together."

Strong and stable FA

Burleanu spoke of his vision at the time to modernise and develop Romanian football and make the FRF a strong association. He expressed satisfaction that the FA had achieved this aim, while also gaining financial stability. “The FRF has imposed itself as a relevant social partner,” he reflected, “and also as a very good and reliable one in terms of business.”

The FRF president presented impressive figures – for example, 56 competitions now organised at all levels by the association compared with 21 in 2014, and a massive leap in the number of girls and women playing football: 66,000 compared with just 330 eight years ago.

‘Creating a better football’

Development strategies are being pursued in areas such as futsal, social responsibility and grassroots football. “Our mission is to create a better football for those who will come after us,” said Burleanu. “We will continue to defend and to maintain, together with UEFA and all our international partners, the European sports model.”

“We will work hard in order to keep our role, to be the strongest Romanian sports organisation, to do our best for Romania and to prove that we are a reliable and competent partner at international level.”