Politehnica supporters winning the trial after “the Siria episode”

Politehnica supporters winning the trial after “the Siria episode”

It took almost three years to wait, but in the end our supporters, unjustly deprived of watching the derby with UTA in Syria, were right in court.

On April 24, 2018, several hundred white-purple fans went to Şiria commune, Arad county, with valid tickets for the derby in League 2 between UTA and Politehnica. However, the fans were kept by the organizers away from the “Otto Grefner” arena, without any legal basis, being guarded by gendarmes in a pen on the outskirts of the town. The situation created then was widely reported in the media 1 2.

Our club did not deviate from the principles on which it was rebuilt in the summer of 2012. One of them says: “Football is for fans!”. The game then began with the stands half-populated. Even the loyal supporters of the Arad band understood the gravity of the situation and refused to participate in the event. As the negotiations with the representatives of the UTA club did not result in allowing the fans access, the white-violets on the field then left the field after an hour of play (at the score of 0-0). Politehnica accepted all the sanctions for this approach, but also sent a strong message.

Moreover, 138 of our supporters, damaged by the actions of the organizing club, went to court, they were represented by lawyers from SCA Chiriţă and Associates. On Tuesday, March 23 a.c., the Timişoara Court of Appeal decided that AFC UTA Arad must pay to the Timişoara supporters the tickets, the costs related to the trip to Siria, as well as the court costs. Although the total amount of payment may seem ridiculous for a club in the first echelon of Romanian football, more important is the significance of this victory “in overtime” of those for whom this sport should be played in the first place. In other words, according to the sentence, the UTA Arad Club must present a public apology to the plaintiffs by a public letter and at the same time, publish this decision, at its expense, on the official AFC UTA Arad page – www.uta-arad.ro as well. and in a widely circulated newspaper, within 15 days of the date of the finality of this decision ”.

The decision can be appealed, within 30 days from the communication. The appeal is an extraordinary appeal, for the limiting reasons provided by law – all these being grounds for illegality of the decision, not provoking a new trial on the merits of the case.

Also, the National Council for Combating Discrimination found the discriminatory and degrading treatment applied to people from Timisoara at the event in Siria from 24.04.2018, the position of CNCD being confirmed by a court. We are with them and support them in their efforts. As a community club, Politehnica Timişoara is a living proof of the importance of involving fans in sports organizations.

“Human rights and fundamental freedoms are not a fad, they are sacred. At Siria, they were abusively ridiculed. We cannot allow such a thing in the 21st century, in a democratic society. We did not remain passive, we followed the legal ways and we addressed the courts and the competent bodies. We defended ourselves both from an international perspective – the vision of the European Convention on Human Rights and the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and from the perspective of national law. We have three judgments that find treatment discriminatory and degrading. Both from the CNCD and from the courts. Of course, they can be appealed, but this appeal is limited only by legality. What is certain, given that it was a case for the first time, is that as a result of this solution, no one will be able to be held arbitrarily and abusively with tickets in hand at the gate of any event. And we are very happy about that “, lawyer Cristian Mihai Lazăr

Football is for the fans!

Complete decision Timişoara Court of Appeal: HERE
“(…) It partially changes the appealed sentence, in the sense that it admits in part the action of the 138 plaintiffs. Accordingly, the U.T.A. Football Club Association obliges the defendant. Arad to pay the plaintiffs the amount of 4,140 lei, representing the cost of 138 match tickets + the amount of 2,925.60 lei representing the cost of OPEN – CFR round-trip tickets, on the route Timişoara-Arad-Şiria and return, both amounts being added legal interest from the date of finality of this decision. The U.T.A. Football Club Association also obliges the defendant. Arad to present a public apology to the plaintiffs by a public letter and at the same time, obliges the same defendant to publish this decision, at its expense, on the official page AFC UTA Arad – www.uta-arad.ro as well as in a widely circulated newspaper, within 15 days of the date of finality of this Decision. Otherwise, it maintains the appealed sentence, in the sense of rejecting the other heads of claim, regarding the moral damages, respectively the request for a guarantee call. Dismisses as unfounded the appeal filed by the defendant, the U.T.A. Football Club Association. Arad against the civil sentence no. 136 / 31.07.2020 pronounced by the Arad Tribunal in the file no. 7252/55/2019. Obliges the respondent to pay to the plaintiffs – appellants the amount of 1,050 lei as court costs, representing court fees, on the merits and on appeal ”

Photo: Gabriel Brezeanu (archive)