Irregularities in Football. ‘Cooperativa’: A History of Match-Fixing in Romanian Football

Abstract

Fixed football matches are a widely analysed phenomenon and in order to better understand it, it is useful to follow its historical trajectory. In this direction, the Romanian case is important to discover various types of fraud under two different political regimes. The roots of the fixing phenomenon in Romanian football were prominent during the communist era and also during the subsequent developments following the fall of communism. This complex system is known in popular culture under the name ‘Cooperativa’ and was a relational structure of a few football clubs, whose connections continued after the fall of communism. In time, the phenomenon of fixed matches came to be considered a normal condition in Romanian football. The way how 'Cooperativa’ transformed and how this phenomenon evolved still fascinates Romanian society. Started as a form of sports survival through corruption during communism. ‘Cooperativa’ became a central group of influence having adapted to capitalist society and succeeded to control the competition through intimidation, abuses and match fixing.