Euro 2008

BUCHAREST, March 24 (Reuters) - Romania coach Victor Piturca said on Monday that turmoil in the domestic game was affecting his team's preparations for Euro 2008.

Trouble in two games has cast a shadow over the championship over the past week, with the Bucharest derby between title rivals Rapid and Steaua being abandoned after the referee was hit by a lighter.

There was also a fracas among players of both sides in Bucharest while, in Iasi, CFR Cluj skipper Eugen Trica encouraged his men to walk off in protest at a controversial penalty awarded to Politehnica.

"A lot of scandals have erupted again in our soccer and this tense atmosphere is not good at all before the final (Euro 2008) tournament," Piturca told reporters as he prepared for a friendly on Wednesday against Russia.

"These rows are hitting soccer officials and, at the same time, the players called up to the national team," he added, highlighting that some of the players involved in the Bucharest derby fracas were together again in the squad to face Russia.

"Several players in the squad belong to club teams fighting in tense matches for the league title...we don't want that tension to continue in the national team too," Piturca said.

The coach was clearly not impressed by Trica, a Romania regular in recent years but who has now paid the price for his behaviour in the 1-0 defeat in Iasi.

CFR Cluj's game was halted for a few minutes due to the threatened walkoff following the award of a match-winning penalty in the latter stages, a refereeing decision that was later undermined by television replays. "Eugen Trica lost his place in the squad as his attitude was not a professional one in Iasi," Piturca said.

Romania play France, Italy and the Netherlands in Group C at Euro 2008.