May 9 – The owner of Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Sofia, Ivan Vassilev (pictured), has said he has had enough of fan criticism and that he will pull his funding of the club at the end of the current season.
Criticism of Vassilev has been incessant with the latest accusation from Lokomotiv supporters being that he has been fixing matches.
During the most recent loss to Botev Vratsa, and at the previous 4-1 beating by Hebar Pazardzhik, fans accused Vassilev of fixing the match and held up a placard reading; ‘Ivan, aren’t you ashamed? God is watching’.
That proved to be the last straw for the businessman, who announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season and would never set foot in Lokomotiv Stadium again.
“Here, I answer them – I’m not ashamed! On the contrary – I’m proud of what I’ve done, what we’ve created with my team. And I’ll leave with my head held high. I’m not a corrupt person and I never have been. I have already made my decision. I will cover all expenses until the end of May. From June 1, they can look for a new owner. I won’t give a penny more. I’m not going to do football anymore,” said Vassilev.
Lokomotiv Sofia head coach Stanislav Genchev came out in support of Vassilev saying that if he leaves then he will also follow him out of the club.
Vassilev revived the Lokomotiv Sofia team following bankruptcy. He took over the club in 2015 and managed to return it to the Bulgarian football elite.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1738987957labto1738987957ofdlr1738987957owedi1738987957sni@o1738987957fni1738987957