In the latest evaluation by the Romanian Football Federation (FRF), **Farul Constanța**, the club owned and led by Gheorghe Hagi, has again secured the top position among youth football academies in Romania with an impressive score of **91.45 points**. This reaffirms Farul’s dominance in nurturing young talent across the country. They are closely followed by **Csikszereda Miercurea Ciuc** with **89.90 points** and **Academia Viitorul Cluj** with **88.76 points**.
A significant talking point from the rankings is the **surprising decline of FCSB’s academy**, which now ranks only **10th**, behind rivals **Rapid** (8th) and **CSA Steaua** (9th). This marks a notable drop from last year’s 4th place, signaling potential challenges in their youth development programs or competitive strategy.
Within the top 10, only six academies represent teams from Romania’s SuperLiga: **Farul, Csikszereda, Universitatea Cluj, FC Argeș, Rapid, and FCSB**. Meanwhile, **Dinamo’s academy ranks 27th**, reflecting a considerable gap compared to the leading institutions.
The FRF evaluation covers seven key areas critical to youth football performance:
– Strategy and philosophy (10.98%)
– Teams and players (12.20%)
– Technical staff (18.67%)
– Support staff (7.21%)
– Training and matches (8.92%)
– Infrastructure and facilities (21.51%)
– Results (20.50%)
This comprehensive grading system ensures a holistic view of academy quality and effectiveness.
Importantly, starting this season, the academy ranking will have a direct impact on official competitions. In the Romanian Cup (Cupa României), if teams finish equal on points, the academy classification will serve as a tiebreaker before any playoff matches are arranged. This integration underscores the growing influence of youth development on senior-level competition and club stature.
This updated ranking not only highlights Farul Constanța’s continued leadership in youth football but also raises questions about FCSB’s academy trajectory and Dinamo’s developmental progress. The inclusion of academy rankings as a competitive tiebreaker could incentivize clubs to invest more strategically in their youth structures moving forward.