By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – Bulgarian icon Hristo Stoichkov has quit as coach of CSKA Sofia a week after 15 fans were detained following an attack on the headquarters of the Bulgarian FA in protest at the debt-ridden club facing the prospect of being plunged into obscurity.
Stoichkov resigned after just a month in the job saying he had lost faith in the owners and their alleged “endless lies.”
“I’m fed up, I’m leaving,” the former Barcelona striker said in a letter addressed to local media. “I agreed to start coaching without a contract and I had a great desire to help. I had the support of the players and my staff. We endured until it became clear there’s no chance of promises being fulfilled.”
Within 24 hours of his statement, however, the club announced they were close to being taken over by a business group called “Red Champions” who said they would appoint former coach Stoycho Mladenov to replace Stoichkov.
CSKA are Bulgaria’s most successful club with 31 league titles but have hit the buffers on and off the pitch amid crippling levels of debt. More than half a dozen key players have left in the last two weeks while fans have marched through downtown Sofia to express their anger at the way the club has been run.
Titan had turned to the hugely popular Stoichkov as their fourth coach of the year and potential saviour. The former World Cup star won three league titles and four national cups as a CSKA player in the 1980s and two weeks after taking over, a statement on the club’s website said all of its 6.5 million shares were being transferred to him. But, said Stoichkov, the owners had prevented a change of ownership.
“It is not my understanding of fair, transparent and professional work. Lies cannot be endless and we cannot go forward. Or at least I cannot do so.”
With the new season starting on July 20, however, Alexander Tomov, CSKA president during their 2008 league title-winning campaign, confirmed that “Red Champions”, which he represents, had agreed to save the club and take over from current owners Titan Sport. “Negotiations with Titan are just about to end, there are only a few details (to be) cleared” he said. “I’ve already met Stoycho Mladenov and told him that he’s our choice.”