June 3 – Chaos and violence marked the last match of the season in Bulgaria. The decisive Conference League play-off between CSKA Sofia and CSKA 1948 was interrupted for more than 20 minutes after home fans stormed the pitch attacking players and match officials.
The Red Ultras were unhappy with their team being 2-0 down, meaning CSKA Sofia would miss out on the European club competition next season.
Two minutes before the end of the regular time at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia, the CSKA Sofia ultras broke through stand fences and moved menacingly towards the players. Some of them carried metal rods, concrete blocks and metal bars.
The match referee and the players of both teams reacted instantly and, with the help of the stadium police, returned to the dressing rooms.
The confrontation on the field escalated into a fight between fans and police, with two law enforcement officers injured and requiring medical attention. The frenzied ultras even attacked one of the television camera operators broadcasting the match live. Police used tear gas to subdue the fans.
Stoyan Ormandzhiev, executive director of CSKA Sofia, unsuccessfully tried to calm the fans.
Once the brawl had calmed down, the leader of the CSKA fans was summoned to a conversation with the representatives of the two teams and the delegate of the match.
Eventually, after a 20-minute stoppage, the match was restarted and CSKA 1948 completed their 2-0 win.
The police said that five CSKA fans were arrested and the match delegate was punched in the face.
Following the match CSKA fired the team’s entire coaching staff and announced that they were starting large-scale changes at every level in the club, indicating that they would be releasing a large number of players.
“We are sending off the most shameful season. We missed opportunities, made mistakes and failed to achieve any of the goals we set. The mistakes are in us, we are aware of them and we work hard to clean them up. From now on, cardinal changes are coming in the club and the team. We would like to apologize to the red community for our performance this season,” said a CSKA statement.
“However, we categorically state that we do not tolerate crowd invasion on the pitch and the excesses that have been reached today. All this can have severe consequences for the club and the team and deprive us all of experiencing together the brighter future we are fighting for. We have always been grateful for the unreserved support, passion, original choreography and love, but we cannot turn a blind eye to behaviour that tarnishes the club’s name in the long term. Despite the negative experiences that hurt us all, we believe that the CSKA audience should be an example and be guided by the ‘army’ values.”
Georgi Ivanov , the new president of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) called on the police to take the most serious measures possible.
“I call on the institutions and relevant competent authorities to take the toughest possible measures to deal with the problem of football hooliganism. As I have emphasised many times, if immediate and decisive action is not taken, the consequences can be fatal. Once again, it was seen that the security of the spectators in the stands, and of all the participants in the football matches, cannot be guaranteed by private security companies,” said Ivanov.
“It is also another case of a football club suffering due to hooliganism by some of its fans. As the head of the Bulgarian Football Union, I am fully prepared to participate in a discussion with the relevant state authorities regarding uncompromising measures to be implemented in the shortest possible time. The problem we are facing can only be solved through full cooperation between the BFU and the institutions.”
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1732339706labto1732339706ofdlr1732339706owedi1732339706sni@o1732339706fni1732339706