By Alexander Krassimirov
April 21 – Ferocious scenes terminated Bulgarian derby between Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv. The match, which in Bulgaria has become known as the Battle of Plovdiv, was stopped in the 41st minute after the home crowd started to throw missiles, stones and flares towards the ground in protest against club owner Konstantin Dinev.
Dinev has become increasingly unpopular amongst fans who want him to leave the club.
One of the projectiles ignited near Botev’s Srdjan Lukin. He fell to the ground, but luckily he was not hurt.
At the beginning, the match was held up for four minutes before resuming. At the end of the first half, however, the violence from the home crowd escalated to the point where referee Georgi Kabakov pulled players off the pitch.
After nearly 20 minutes consultation between the referee and the match officials, Kabakov announced that the match was abandoned because it was not possible to guarantee the players’ safety.
Lokomotiv fan favorite Martin Kamburov try to calm the fans by talking to them in the stands, but they were adamant that the game would not be allowed to finish, and that they would continue with their protests.
“They said they would not allow the game to come to an end. I told this to the referee. I tried to talk to them, but they said that the match will not finish. It is not the way to protest against the president or anyone else. Now Lokomotiv will be punished as club. For us it was the most important game. I do not know where the police were and how the fans were able to bring in the bombs. We tried to play, but the bombs were many and dangerous for the players of both teams . It is a festive period and nobody wants to go home with broken head,” said Kamburov.
Lokomotiv now face a heavy punishment from the Bulgarian Football Union. The club has already been sanctioned three times this season for the behaviour of its fans. Lokomotiv supporters were adamant that they would continue their actions until Dinev quits the club.
Dinev said: “I do not want to take hasty decisions. Let’s take some time and see what we will do. Nobody can tell me that he loves Lokomotiv more than me. I do not want to bend to 20-30 hooligans. Such a thing until now has not happened to me. These actions motivate me more. We and the police had information that something like that might happen.
“We pay for security and expect everything to be fine. I guess we’ll be punished seriously. I am urging all the true fans of Lokomotiv to not allow bullies to conquer our team. I hope people who love Lokomotiv stand behind me. Normal people now can not come to the stadium because of the hooligans.”
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