Mircea M. Ionescu, the Romanian journalist who founded the first sports weekly abroad, dies at 80

A life in sports journalism

Mircea M. Ionescu, known to colleagues as MMI, died on Sunday 19 July 2026 at the age of 80. The news was announced by journalist Alin Buzărin on Facebook and confirmed by the Romanian Sports Press Association. Born on 31 October 1945 in Bucharest, he graduated from the University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1969 and began his career in the newsrooms of Munca, Sportul and Fotbal. He became one of the best-known sports commentators of his generation, his voice familiar from radio and television broadcasts.

Ten minutes before the World Cup final, terrible news distracted attention from New Jersey. Mircea M. Ionescu has passed away! Eternal rest, MMI! He was immense, multifaceted, and above all an extraordinary man. I had the privilege that MMI considered me among his friends. Sleep in peace? Yes! But above all 'good to see you, dear friends of football,' as he always greeted us.

The 1986 final and exile

Together with Ioan Chirilă, Ionescu was sent by Sportul to cover the 1986 European Champions Cup final in Seville, where Steaua București defeated Barcelona. In 1987 he left Romania, obtained political refugee status and settled in New York. During his early years in the United States he worked as a taxi driver, an experience he later turned into the play "Taximetrist de noapte la New York". In New York he founded Lumea Sporturilor, regarded as the first Romanian-language sports weekly published outside the country.

Literary and theatrical work

Ionescu published dozens of books and plays. Among his best-known works are "Asasinul acordă interviuri", "Pierdut în New York", "Hamlet a murit degeaba", "Deținuți în Statuia Libertății" and "Condamnat la Libertate". His plays were staged in Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Serbia and the Republic of Moldova. By 2018 his tally stood at 31 published books and 36 theatre premieres. After returning to Romania in 1997 he continued working in press, television and theatre, hosting the show "Idoli și Legende" and serving as director of the Tudor Vianu Theatre in Giurgiu.

Passions discovered at eight

In an interview with Sport Total FM, Ionescu described how his twin passions for theatre and football were born on a single day in 1953, when he was eight years old. His parents took him to a play at the Giulești Theatre at 11:00, and at 15:00 he was in the stands of Giulești Stadium with his father watching Rapid lose 1-2 to CFR Timișoara. He often spoke with emotion about the legendary footballer Nicolae Dobrin, and his dramatic works frequently blended his love of football with the stage.

Youth is first of all a state of mind, it is movement, it is searching, it is passion. Everything I do, I do with soul, with fervour. Passion gives birth to unimaginable forces. I am approaching 80 at the end of this week. I will reach a hundred, joking, of course, but everything is a dosing of effort and the passion with which you decide to treat a fervour. For me, theatre and football are two endless passions, discovered at age eight.

Tributes and legacy

In 2023 the Romanian Sports Press Association awarded Ionescu the "Aurel Neagu" prize for his entire career. The association said he transformed journalism into a vocation and carried the spirit of the Romanian press beyond the country's borders. The Alexandru Davila Theatre in Pitești, where he was a faithful chronicler, noted that despite frail health he attended nearly every festival and premiere in recent years, notebook in hand. The association's statement read: "Mircea M. Ionescu leaves us, but his books, articles, storytelling vocation and the memory of a professional who honoured Romanian sports press remain."