Romanian season delayed

SBS-The World Game
Sunday, March 13, 2005

AP

Romania’s football league postponed the resumption of first division
matches by a week due to heavy snow that has made pitches impossible
to play on.

The matches in the Romanian championship were scheduled to restart
this week after a three-month winter break, but instead they will
start on March 11.

All 16 clubs in the Romanian league voted in favour of the
postponement, but national team coach Victor Piturca criticised
the measure.

Piturca said he wanted more games for his players before crucial
World Cup qualifying matches against the Netherlands and Macedonia.

He said the league should have waited a few more days to see if the
weather warmed up before the weekend.

The Netherlands leads Group 1 with 10 points, the same as Romania but
with a better goal difference and a game in hand. The Czech Republic
follows with nine points.

Armenia is at the bottom of the table with one point. Finland,
Macedonia and Andorra are the other teams in the group.