Prince has found his new favorite soccer team, “The team formerly known as Steaua Bucharest.” Due to trademark infringement between the team and the Romanian defense ministry, Steaua Bucharest has to rebrand away from the team name and crest that they have used since 1947.
This past weekend, Steaua Bucharest had to be introduced as “the champions of Romania,” play in jerseys that were yellow instead of their traditional red and blue, replacing their crest with a blank square and being referred to has “hosts” on the scoreboard. All references to the team name and crest were taken off of all training apparel and jerseys.
Even though the team had used the same jersey and crest for the past 67 years, the Romanian defense industry has claimed that Bucharest violated the brand since 2004 and took things to court. The highest court in Romania ruled against Bucharest and thus must rebrand. Bucharest has been given a reprieve from the defense ministry for Thursday’s Europa League game against Dynamo Kiev. There is still room for an agreement between the two parties but it’s clear there needs to be some money switching hands if Bucharest plans to keep their brand.
