Scandal at the Romanian Cup: organizers accused of manipulating the draw.

A dispute has arisen in Romania over the conducted draw for the national Cup, which raised suspicions of rigging due to a peculiar method of selecting lots.

According to The Sun: Gabriel Bodescu, the deputy general secretary of the Romanian Football Federation, can be seen on video attempting to mix the balls in a small and overflowing lottery bowl. His colleague retrieves Farul Constanta, currently in sixth place in Romania's top division - SuperLiga. Bodescu then starts mixing the balls but always remains in contact with a particular ball, touching it as he mixes. After this, he draws that specific ball, opens it, and announces that Constanta will play against the second-tier team - Corvinul Hunedoara in the Cup.

The Romanian Football Federation issued a statement denying any hints of rigging but acknowledged a mistake in using small bowls, limiting the mixing capabilities of the hosts. The statement noted that the size of the draw bowl was smaller than would have been appropriate to facilitate the mixing of the balls, but this did not affect the fairness of the process, as mixing and drawing took place according to procedures, in front of representatives from some of the clubs participating in this phase, and live on FRF television, ensuring transparency and objectivity. The match is already scheduled for Thursday evening.