By Alexander Krassimirov
July 2 – Financially challenged Bulgarian club Levski Sofia has moved again to fill the gaps in its finances by looking to get help from its fans, Owner Todor Batkov is to transfer 15% of ownership of the club to the supporters’ trust Blue Bulgaria.
The two sides have reached an agreement under which the transaction should be finalised by September.
The trust is now waiting for the General Meeting of the Club which will clarify the financial status of Levski, and following that meeting the money from the trust will be transferred.
“The owner Todor Batkov will transfer 15% of the capital of the club to our trust. That means that he will not get money from us. But that does not mean that we will have no financial commitment to the club. We will have to co-financing the club,” said Vasil Kolev, one of the co-founders of the trust.
One member of the supporters’ trust will take a place on the club Board. The membership fee for the trust will be BGN20 (€10) The organization hopes to raise BGN 1 million by the end of next season, with all funds going to the club.
Levski was recently sanctioned under UEFA’s financial fair play rules, receiving a fine of €200,000. The overspend by the club was a result of high transfer fees and player salaries
Batkov blames the failure of Gazprom to complete on a sponsorship deal for the UEFA sanction. He claims that if the sponsorship had been activated the club would have been in a better financial position and the fine would not have been imposed on the club.
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