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28 March 2024

Bulgarians deny racist abuse allegations

Published
By Reuters

The president of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) has denied charges that home fans directed racist chants at England players during the Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia last month.

"There were no racial chants during the game and the match delegate said the same and there's nothing like this in his report," Borislav Mihaylov told reporters on Thursday.

European soccer governing body UEFA announced on Wednesday that the BFU would face charges of discriminatory behaviour relating to chanting by their supporters following a complaint by the English Football Association.

"Yes, we received a letter from UEFA yesterday but we'll probably ask for postponement of the case because we want to have more time to prepare a more detailed and clear answer," Mihaylov added.

The case against Bulgaria is scheduled to be heard by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body on Oct. 13.

After England's 3-0 victory in the Group G match, then Bulgaria coach Lothar Matthaeus issued an apology on behalf of the BFU despite saying he didn't hear anything.

"I'm not worried," said Mihaylov, who is also a member of the UEFA executive committee. "The English federation has complained to UEFA but they already did it five times. They probably believe they're blessed."

The BFU have made efforts to stop racism but there have still been several ugly incidents in the Balkan country over the last few years.

In 2005, CSKA Sofia supporters were heard aiming monkey noises at Liverpool's French striker Djibril Cisse during a Champions League match.