By David Gold
September 28 – CSKA Sofia are set to be thrown out of the Bulgarian championship, if UEFA carries through on its threat to ban the club from European competition for three seasons.
The Bulgarian side will be thrown out of Europe if they fail to meet their debts, estimated to be in the region of 80 million Bulgarian lev (£33 million/$52 million/€40 million).
They were one of 23 teams who had prize money withheld by UEFA earlier this month relating to unpaid debts under the new financial fair play rules teams playing in Europe must comply with.
The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) vice-president Atanas Furnadzhiev told Bulgarian media that: “They will not obtain a licence (to compete in the first division) if they fail to meet UEFA’s licensing criteria.
“Things are connected.
“They won’t be able to escape as they did before.”
CSKA President Dimitar Borisov has said that half the money has already been paid, according to Bulgarian state television.
CSKA have been banned from Europe before, the 2008-9 Champions League, as a result of debt problems.
If relegated in Bulgaria it would be the first time they will have faced that consequence in 64 years.
The club have not won the Bulgarian title for four years, and are already struggling in the championship this year, sitting eighth in the league after eight matches.
They were also knocked out of this year’s Europa League in the qualifying rounds.
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