The selector of the Romanian national men’s handball team for the last two years, George Buricea (46 years old), was provisionally suspended by the National Anti-Doping Agency, for violating the regulations in force, ANAD announced through the official website.
According to the mentioned source, Buricea received a provisional suspension from sports activity, starting on April 29, for violating anti-doping regulations, more precisely for “complicity in the prohibited method Art. 2 paragraph 2 letter b of Law 310/2021”.
In reality, George Buricea would have called an ambulance to give first aid to a member of the national team, during a training camp that took place in Bucharest at the end of last year (December 30).
According to sources close to the national team, in the absence of the national team doctor, during a training session, a player got sick, and the doctor on the ambulance called by the technician would have given him an infusion of vitamins.
Suspended for roughing up a student in Timișoara, at the national team he didn’t know the time-out rules
Thus, George Buricea, whose contract with the Romanian Handball Federation would expire these very days, ended up being accused of complicity and facilitating a method prohibited by the anti-doping rules.
Buricea stood out this competitive season also because he was suspended in October by the Disciplinary Commission of the Romanian Handball Federation for six games and fined 5,000 lei after roughing a player of his club team, SCM Politehnica Timișoara, during a National League match.
With Buricea in charge, at the end of March, the Romanian national men’s handball team suffered a historic shame, being eliminated by Turkey from the semi-final of the 2027 World Championship on home soil, after squandering a 5-goal advantage in the round and losing 31-37 in the return leg.
However, another detail from the end was also shocking: the selector George Buricea was considered the main person responsible for the failure, as he confused his players at the last requested time-out, without knowing the rules!
