October 11 – The Bulgarian FA have written angrily to UEFA to protest against a threat by England players to walk off the pitch en masse if any of them are racially abused during Monday’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia.
The game will be played in a partially closed stadium following Bulgaria fans’ racist behaviour at games in June.
BFU president Borislav Mihaylov described the threat as “the unjust branding of local spectators as people inclined to discriminatory behaviour”.
Bulgaria supporters were found guilty of racist behaviour against Kosovo and the Czech Republic in their Euro 2020 qualifiers and England forward Tammy Abraham said on Wednesday that the players are prepared to “all come off the pitch together” if they are “not happy”.
UEFA have ordered 5,000 of the 46,340 seats at the Vasil Levski stadium to be blocked off for the game.
Mihaylov did not mention Bulgaria’s racism record in his letter but deliberately cited the fact that English football fans were not squeeky clean either. And he called on UEFA to sanction England if they went against its three-step protocol.
“The Bulgarian public has in no way committed any recent infringements that deserve it to be stereotyped as ‘racist’ or ‘hostile’,” said his letter.
“I am sure you will agree that these accusations are not only unjust but are continuous attempts to disrupt the atmosphere before a very much anticipated game of football.
“We are aware of the recent problems with racist behaviour in all tiers of English club football and with England’s ongoing battle with hooliganism.
“Although we sincerely applaud the FA’s initiative for the English fans to report trouble within the visiting crowd, we are extremely shocked at all efforts to involve and even mark out the Bulgarian spectators as potential troublemakers.”
England manager Gareth Southgate moved to smooth relations ahead of the fixture amid concerns it could be overshadowed by racism.
“I can totally understand why the Bulgarian president feels as he does because we have purely been responding honestly to questions we’ve been asked,” Southgate said. “That will then be relayed and the way it’s pitched could appear provocative.
“We are not trying to create a situation, far from it. We’re all hoping that over the next 72 hours we’re just talking about two football matches. I have to say again, we don’t look at other countries in a way that we don’t shine a mirror on our own.”
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