March 27 – CSKA Sofia, champions of Bulgaria 31 times, have issued a desperate plea to their supporters to cough up emergency funding to avoid being expelled from the country’s top division over mounting debts.
“Today, we’re launching a campaign to collect funds to save the licence of CSKA,” the club, who have never been relegated, said in a statement. “The required amount is one million levs (£374,612).”
CSKA need to pay money by the end March to the National Social Security Institute and the National Revenue Agency as well as wages and compensation to former players and coaches to meet the Bulgarian Football Union’s (BFU) licensing criteria.
CSKA urged fans to come up with the necessary donations in the next few days.
“The management will do everything in its power to prevent the collapse of CSKA,” the club said. “But we may not be able to cope by ourselves. It’s time for CSKA to unite as a fist… and say we’ll not surrender!”
The Reds, who have twice reached the semi-finals in two European Cup campaigns (1967 and 1981) and a European Cup Winners’ Cup (1989), will have to play in the Bulgarian amateur championship if they fail to settle the debts.
Despite being dogged by financial problems, CSKA topped the league after the first half of the season. However, after the winter break they failed to score in four successive matches, earning only a point, which allowed champions Ludogorets to leapfrog them at the top.
Bulgarian clubs have been struggling to meet UEFA’s strict licensing and financial fair play rule and players at top-flight club Lokomotiv Plovdiv have refused to train for two days over unpaid wages.
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