Bulgarian football boss Borislav Mihaylov quits after fan pressure

SOFIA – The president of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU), Borislav Mihaylov, under pressure because of the national team’s failure to reach Euro 2024, announced his resignation on Nov 27 after violent demonstrations by fans.

“I have tendered my resignation in a spirit of appeasement,” said the 60-year-old, who has been at the helm for 18 years, after a meeting of the national body in Sofia.

His resignation follows violent scenes on Nov 16 when thousands of supporters gathered outside the stadium where Bulgaria were playing Hungary in a Euro qualifier, calling for an end to Mihaylov’s tenure.

Police used water cannons and batons to disperse the crowd, and several dozen fans and police were injured in the clashes that followed.

Bulgaria drew 2-2 but the result was not enough to send them through to the 2024 European Championship Finals in Germany – their last appearance at a major championship was the 2004 Euro in Portugal.

“Mihaylov’s time as BFU president has left football in ruins. He doesn’t care about sport, only money and his own interests,” a 72-year-old fan, Chavdar Tanev, told AFP at the protest.

BFU’s request for Uefa to order the game to be played behind closed doors in a bid to prevent fans from protesting against Mihaylov – a request to which European football’s governing body agreed – was the final straw, he added.

“The decline under Mihaylov is so obvious, we’re ashamed of the state of the sport,” added another supporter, Mihail Raychev, 36.

Despite the setbacks on the pitch, Mihaylov, who was a member of the golden era of Bulgarian players who finished fourth at the 1994 World Cup, said he was “proud of what has been achieved”.

Mihaylov was goalkeeper and captain of the 1994 team who reached the World Cup semi-finals.

Vice-president Mihail Kasabov will take over as interim president until the congress in 2024, when the decision must be ratified and new candidates examined.

Mihaylov resigned once before, in October 2019, after a racist abuse scandal during a match against England. However, he reversed his decision and returned a year and a half later. He is the longest-serving head of the BFU, having been elected five times since 2005.

When Mihaylov was first elected, fans regarded him as “the face of change” after the previous BFU president was voted out following an international corruption scandal, long-time sports journalist Stanil Yotov told AFP.

“Back then, we thought that things were bad, we hardly had any idea how much worse they can get,” Yotov said.

Bulgaria’s national team has had 15 coaches during Mihaylov’s time as BFU chief, but failed to qualify for any major tournament.

Mihaylov’s presidency was also marked by recurring allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting, misappropriation of public funds and conflicts of interest. AFP