A decision by the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) to change the venue for a European qualifier with Hungary on November 16 and play the match to empty stands had fans infuriated in both countries. In Bulgaria, fans' anger has long been simmering.
In October, the Bulgarian national men's football team suffered two humiliating defeats. First, Bulgaria was beaten Lithuania in a European qualifier (0-2), and a few days later lost by the same score to Albania in a friendly match. That was the last straw for Bulgarian football fans, whose national team has not qualified for a major football tournament since 2004. Spontaneously, they began organizing a large-scale protest against the leadership of the Football Union to be held at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia during the European qualification with Hungary next week.
Organized and unorganized supporters of most of the leading football clubs in the country were called to join the protest and most of them agreed - CSKA (Sofia), Levski (Sofia), Botev (Plovdiv), Lokomotiv (Plovdiv), Beroe (Stara Zagora), Slavia (Sofia), Cherno More (Varna), Spartak (Varna), Lokomotiv (Sofia), Minyor (Pernik), among others. The motto of the upcoming protest says "18 years is enough! United with demand for resignations! Bobby Mihaylov and the BFU - out, now!".
Borislav Mihaylov is the BFU President of 18 years.
The discontent of the football community did not go unnoticed by the BFU - not in a way the fans would appreciate. When the plans for a major protest surfaced, BFU representatives held talks with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), complaining that they had received alerts of "riots posing serious danger to public order are being prepared". Taking into account the BFU's complaints, UEFA's safety and security unit conducted an analysis and found the match between Bulgaria and Hungary to be a high-risk one. Thus, UEFA sent an official letter to the BFU recommending that the European qualification be moved from the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia to the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv and that it be held at an earlier time behind closed doors. The actions of the BFU and UEFA are without precedent: there is no other case in the history of world football where a country has voluntarily asked to host a football match without fans.
The last-minute decision to hold the match in Plovdiv behind closed doors angered not only the Bulgarian fans, but also the fans of the Hungarian national football team, as more than 2,000 had already bought tickets for their team's visit on November 16. All the fans shared the opinion that the actions of the BFU and UEFA are driven by fear. As a response, a group of organized Hungarian fans, Carpathian Brigade '09, wrote: "Another important match will be played without fans. This time the reason is quite surprising even for us, since the Bulgarian Football Union fears organized protests. We find it shameful and unacceptable that the presence of around 2,500 Hungarian fans is not allowed. We can only say that we hope the team will achieve the common goal without us. Finally, we wish the Bulgarian fans to persevere in their battle against their cowardly, anti-fan association. Football is nothing without fans".
The decision of the BFU and UEFA is odd for one more reason: the Hristo Botev Stadium does not meet UEFA requirements to host a European qualifier match, as it lacks enough lighting. In other words, UEFA suggests that the game is played at a stadium that does not meet its own requirements to host such an event.
Furthermore, Iliyan Filipov, owner of the PIMK construction company, which built the Hristo Botev Stadium, sent an official letter to the newly-elected Plovdiv Mayor, Kostadin Dimitrov, warning him that the match between Bulgaria and Hungary cannot be played at this stadium due to ongoing work for mounting of heavy elements on the canopy of one of the stands in the period between November 13 and November 20. The letter adds that the company cannot guarantee the safety of the stadium and the adjacent external infrastructure.
Whatever the final decision of the BFU and UEFA about the match may be, football fans will hardly change their plans for protests. Posts on social media show that fans intend to gather near the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv while the November 16 match is being played. Many Hungarians who have tickets for the game have decided to travel to Bulgaria regardless of whether there will be allowed to enter the stadium or not. As they have already planned their trip, they intend to join the Bulgarian fans’ protest against the football union.
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