FOOTBALL BETWEEN POLITICS, ROYAL FAMILIES AND SPORT: YUGOSLAV-ROMANIAN FOOTBALL RELATIONS 1922–1941

Vol. XLIII, 1/2025, pp. 37-58
https://doi.org/10.29362/ist20veka.2025.1.mit.37-58

ABSTRACT/RESUME:

Two bordering monarchies, Yugoslavia and Romania, have a complex and close history. Football has positioned itself as a political means of bringing together both the two ruling families and the two states. For this purpose, several types of competitions were organized: the Trophy of King Alexander I and King Carol II Cup. Both Trophy and the Cup represented the ruling family and as such was a manifestation of mutual Yugoslav-Romanian friendship and close ties between two kings. There was also the specific Balkan Games or the Danube Cup, where all the countries of the Balkans demonstrated their football skills and aimed for mutual Balkan cooperation that would initiate in the sphere of football and end in politics. In total, Yugoslavia and Romania played 21 football matches in the period 1922-1941. Each of them had their own political background, where sometimes that political background was more important than the actual game on the field. The dynamics of football relations completely followed the dynamics of political relations: when the political map of Europe changed, football suffered serious blows. Finally, on the eve of the Second World War, all football ties were severed and football diplomacy was replaced by weapons, where Yugoslavia and Romania found themselves on opposite sides of the war. Thus, the decade-long football ties between two monarchist families and two countries were broken by the world war.

KEYWORDS: Yugoslavia, Romania, Football, politics, King Alexander I, King Carol II

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FOOTBALL BETWEEN POLITICS, ROYAL FAMILIES AND SPORT: YUGOSLAV-ROMANIAN FOOTBALL RELATIONS 1922–1941