By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – Fifteen CSKA fans have been detained after an attack on the headquarters of the Bulgarian FA in protest at the debt-ridden club facing the prospect of being plunged into obscurity. CSKA will play in the amateur championship next season if they fail to merge with another first division club in time for the start of the Bulgarian league on July 20.
Last week coach Hristo Stoichkov announced the club had been declared bankrupt and more than 1,000 enraged supporters marched through downtown Sofia at the weekend, blaming the national federation for blocking a merger. Windows were smashed, fireworks thrown and graffiti sprayed while local media reported that a security guard hid under a table to avoid being lynched.
The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said in a statement that it was outraged at the acts of vandalism. “It’s obvious that some people want to press the BFU to close its eyes at attempts at not observing the rules,” the statement said.
CSKA also condemned the violence, saying: “We are sure that the millions of CSKA fans in Bulgaria do not admire such behaviour; CSKA has proved it can build, not destroy. We categorically state that the management of the club is not involved even indirectly in the vandalism against the building of the Bulgarian Football Union.”
A week ago, the club’s owners said they had transferred their 6.5 million shares to Stoichkov, although the deal has yet to be concluded. CSKA, the most successful club ever in Bulgaria club with 31 league titles, finished third last season, nine points behind champions Ludogorets.
Inept performances on the pitch have combined with controversy in the boardroom and mounting debts. More than half a dozen key players, including captain Ivan Bandalovski, have left the club.
CSKA, who made three European semi-finals between 1967 and 1989, were barred from the 2008-09 Champions League after failing the meet UEFA’s strict licensing rules and have been denied a place in next season’s Europa League.
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