I am not placing “poor” into quotes by accident, because it is like a metaphor for Romania. We are not, literally speaking, a poor country. No, not at all. We have a lot of resources and pretty much of everything, the biggest problem being the human quality of its inhabitants and this makes Romania really poor. Now, I won’t debate this huge and endless topic, but I will like to comment around CSM Bucharest and, especially, about Cristina Neagu, the so called best female handball player in the world. Why? Well, long story short, because she has a huge salary, didn’t win anything significant and, the most important, she is paid out of local taxes. In a city like Bucharest, where everything is about to collapse at a major earthquake – believe me, it is at the same level of Turkey! – 42 million lei (!!!) are directed to an artificial sports club founded in 2007. This means around 9 million EUROs. The problem is that this means 90% of the budget in 2022, as per the public statement here.
CSM Bucharest huge useless budget
Sure, it is in Romanian, and it is expressed in thousand lei, which means those amounts times 1000, but I will explain you the essential:
- 1. Total venituri = means all income = 46.872.000 lei
- 18. Subvenții = subsidy = 42.124.000 lei
Swedish people laugh of the facts
CSM means Club Sportiv Municipal = Municipality’s Sports Club, so it is not something very uncommon to get public money. This is not the point. The point is how this money is spent. Because in 16 years, CSM Bucharest spent a lot of money and produces very slim results. Normally, this kind of clubs are destined to the community, to growing children and produce sports talents, especially if we are talking like the capital city of a country like Romania. However, the main focus of this wasn’t, by far. CSM Bucharest, at least at handball level, pays the biggest salaries in the world. At women handbal which is not a very popular sports around the world. Some long years ago, the Swedish publication, Aftonbladet, was amazed of how much money are invested in CSM Bucharest, in a city that, as said, is falling apart.
The center of Bucharest very close to collapse
I am not joking when I am stating that Bucharest has major issues and, for example, the center square, Piața Unirii, is about to collapse – see here. Now, I won’t insist on this, because, as mentioned, it is an endless topic, but I do want to highlight the major anomaly with CSM Bucharest. I’ve said that Cristina Neagu is so called the best female handball player, because she didn’t bring any trophy for Romania, no Olympic medal or such, few that count in a sport that has a very narrow rate of interest. She earns, at CSM Bucharest, quarter million EUR / year and this is obscene since everything comes, as shown, 90% from people’s pocket. I have invoked the Swedish above because that part of Europe produces maybe the best results in the world, Denmark and Norway winning almost all major titles. Not Sweden, OK, but they are in the same range.
Why don’t they have such salaries in Norway or Denmark?
Even though Norway and Denmark won a lot of trophies, the salaries there don’t raise up to Neagu’s 20k EUR / month and to match 20k / month in Bucharest you would need to win in Oslo, at least 50k, just for you to make an idea. Neagu is paid handsome and she does not deliver results. What I have against Neagu? Well, nothing personal, believe me, but after the continuous conflict with Rapid Bucharest’s fans I feel the obligation to present to all people what kind of values are promoted in Romania. For a clear definition, the best sportsmen or women in the world are paid the most when audience is pasionate about what they provide. This translates into a lot of supporters, many sponsors and, in the end, private money. CSM Bucharest doesn’t have any supporter and neither has significant sponsors, because if they would have had, then 90% of their funds won’t have come from the local budget.
Cristina Neagu, 1 milion euros, but absolutely nothing in return
Now, getting back to Cristina Neagu, she didn’t won any single major trophy with Romania, neither did she with CSM Bucharest, even though the competition for EHF Champions League is very, very slim. You are fighting with clubs from Podgorica, Gyor and Skopje, which shows even better how important is female handbal at European level and at global level in general. It is about facts, not about emotions or gender equality. With 0 results, Neagu cashed out more than 1 million since she joined the club and that is a lot of money, mostly from public resources. But in the last days of February 2023 Neagu was more mediatized than in the last years, because she had a conflict with Rapid supporters. OK, to be sworn, it is very rude, but to react is even more rude and since you have the impression you are a top sportsperson it is also a prove of lack of character. It is so happening that those supporters might contribute heavily to your undeserved wage so swearing them is not the best idea, especially for what they represent.
Rapid Bucharest, public money, but… 30% less
OK… What do they represent? Indeed, as many said, Rapid Bucharest, the handball section is sponsored also from public money. No question about that, we cannot hide behind the facts. Not only the handball, but all Club Sportiv – Sport Club in translation – have also a huge budget from public money, as you can see attached. It is not from 2022, but from 2021, but this is least important. It is roughly 100% (!!!) from public money, but the first big difference is that it is “only” 29 million lei – around 6 million EUR. OK, you are right to say it is still a lot of money and the public funds should not be spent like this, but going back to my title, Rapid Bucharest is a tradition club not only from Bucharest, but from Romania and the money comes from the Minister of Transportation, not from a local authority. Still not OK, I agree. But the difference is 30% lower and Rapid is 1 million times so from this perspective there is no comparison. I understand that the transportation system in Romania is so poor and old that such an investment in a sports team doesn’t sustain, but this is not the discussion here.
Johnson-Odom better paid, but he played in NBA, not at Buducnost
To reinforce something and to make you better understand, some limited people highlighted that the best sportsperson in Romania at this point is an american basketball player, Darius Johnson-Odom, who cashes 22.500 euro / month. Rapid Bucharest pays him but, only up to 13.000 euro / month, as this seems to be the cap. The difference is, apparently, from sponsors, according to the same mentioned source. Indeed, it is not feasible, it is too much for Romania, I agree, but to compare this with CSM Bucharest and with Cristina Neagu’s situation, is out of this world for sure. As said, Cristina Neagu is the best paid person in a sport that merely exists at general perception, while Darius comes from a sport that has NBA – he did played there seven games also (!) – and in his sport, the top salaries surpass good 40 M / year, in some cases even 50 million dollars / year! In male handball, for example, the highest is slightly above 1 million euro / year.
17 years, hundreds of millions, two trophies
If you cannot understand this, then nothing can unplug your brain, honestly speaking. Going further, though, the mentioning of CS Rapid is exactly one more reason to challenge the existence of CSM Bucharest. Rapid was born in 1923 – so here we go for the hundred, therefore the presence of Darius is well welcomed in this year – while CSM was artificially founded, as said, with other stated purposes, in 2007. And even though, in 16 year, they were massively supported by tons of funds, in sports in which few invested more, CSM Bucharest won almost nothing. In translation, this means a CEV Challenge Cup at women’s volley (equivalent of Europe Conference at male football, so imagine) and a a EHF Champions League, at female handball, both in 2016. Seven years ago! That is it, for this hundreds of millions from public money were spent.
Neagu played only at clubs supplied by public funds
Almost 0 trophies, 0 tradition, 0 supporters and… 0 top sportsperson produced. Because in sports like these, if you do your job properly, especially with public money, you should produce a couple of them, having this purpose on the first place, to breed talents. Cristina Neagu was not bread by CSM. She was raised by Rulmentul Brasov and played here entire wonderful career at clubs heavily linked to public funds, like Oltchim and Buducnost, before joining CSM. She never played in a serious championship like Norway, Denmark, France or even Hungary, and my strong impression is that those there saw that even though she is a very talented individual, she doesn’t help any team, achieve anything. To be considered, by fouls, correct, but still, Messi of women handbal and to have won only one single major trophy it underlines how Romanians understand sports in general.
Nobody can challenge Rapid’s supporters
Cristina Neagu never helped Romania team to achieve anything, but some feel the need to pay her money for so called individual prizes that worth the same as my medals from below, frankly speaking. Now… why so “angry” on Cristina Neagu? Not angry, guys, but somebody needs to say the truth. When you are a top sportsperson, you may have conflicts with supporters, but to swear people from the best crowd in Romania, Rapid, recurrently, and to speak heavy words about some guys that in good proportion are paying your salary, to mention their poor education, when you have the history and the habits that you have, it is too much. Bottom line is that Cristina Neagu might be a good individual player, talented, but for Romania she achieved 0. So why do Bucharest needs to pay her? Don’t know, but at a second thought, everything makes sense.
This is why we cannot evolve
The hall of a city that might collapse at a first serious earthquake, a city which is the ugliest capital city from the European Union and, possible, from the whole Europe, spends tens of millions for unsuccessful sportspersons that bring nothing in return. Maybe this is the purpose of CSM Bucharest and why indeed why are only “poor”, not necessary poor. We compare Rapid with CSM so it is obvious that we don’t know anything about sports. And comparing also the need to pay such a salary to Cristina Neagu, in the all given circumstances, to the incomes of her “supporters” – many don’t earn more than 500 EUR / month – has the ultimate proof of why Romanian sports and society cannot evolve. It is good, we pay, they swear. Good trade! We still fund, though, steaua and dinamo, two clubs that should have disappeared in December 1989. All good!
Cover photo source: fanatik.ro / sportspictures.eu