October 17 – National team coach Mladen Krstajić launched an extraordinary attack on the Bulgarian league before a friendly match against Albania.
Krstajić (pictured), a Serb, under mounting pressure following a 2-0 loss to Lithuania in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, said there were too many foreigners playing in the Bulgarian championship and that teams were not doing enough to develop local talents.
Krstajić, who has not managed a single win with the national team in the 2023 calendar year, even went as far as suggesting that the league should be shut down.
“Now is not the time to talk about the problems of Bulgarian football, because it will look like an excuse. See how many foreigners play in Serbia and Croatia and compare their championships with the Bulgarian one. If there are no Bulgarians playing in the Bulgarian championship, it is better to shut it down. We have to take care of our children,” said Krstajić.
“At the moment, I feel like a Bulgarian and I should not be the one to arrange passports for the Bulgarian children. If this trend continues, you will soon be gone. You can write whatever you want, but this is the truth, and it sometimes hurts.”
A few hours later, a lightning reaction followed from the president of the Professional Football League in Bulgaria (BPFL) , Atanas Karaivanov. He called on the Bulgarian Football Union (FBU) to immediately terminate Krstajić’s contract.
“He has neither real nor moral authority to evaluate the football championship of our country. I can assure him that, according to a number of criteria, the level of efbet Liga (Bulgarian championship) is higher than that of Serbia and Croatia, which the BFU official gives us as an example. Instead of resigning, after the shameful loss to Lithuania on Saturday in the center of Sofia, today Krstajić decided to ‘close the Bulgarian championship’,” said Karaivanov.
“How many foreigners will play in the teams of CSKA, Levski, Ludogorets or Botev Vratsa, cannot be decided by a person who in recent months has convinced us with every game that he does not understand anything about football.
“Our national team has never played so poorly and confusedly, the choice of starting line-up, tactics and substitutions have never been so parodic. It’s a pity for the boys who are at a dead end,” said Karaivanov who published his statement on the Bulgarian Professional Football League website.
“In professional football in our country, there are 711 registered professional football players, of which 511 are in clubs in the First League. The number of foreigners in our First League is 180 and 36 for the Second League, or about 30% of all players, not counting players on amateur contracts in the Second League. Our boys’ problem is to fight for their starting places. Club football in Europe has not been divided into “locals and foreigners” for a long time. The man who is making frantic efforts to shut down our national team has today threatened us that we are in danger of shutting down the championship. I have many Serbian friends, including in football, with whom I have worked together. I had never met a similar exemplar,” he added.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1729224133labto1729224133ofdlr1729224133owedi1729224133sni@o1729224133fni1729224133