Published 15:04 IST, October 15th 2019
Bulgaria's PM calls for the resignation of Football Union President
Boyko Borissov has asked the President of the Sports Union to resign after incidents of racism in the England-Bulgaria match and condemned the incident
Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov has asked the head of Bulgaria's Football Union to resign after England's football players were subject to multiple racist attacks during a UEFA Euro Qualifier match on Monday evening.
Krassen Kralev, who is the Minister for Youth and Sports, told reporters on Tuesday morning that the Prime Minister had called on the President of the country's football union, Borislav Mihaylov to resign. He said, "The prime minister called me urgently a short time ago. You know that the government has done a lot for the development of Bulgarian football in the last four years. But after the recent events, having in mind the whole state of football and last night's incidents, the prime minister has ordered me from today to suspend any relations with the BFU, including financial ones, until the resignation of Borislav Mihaylov."
'We reported every incident'
The match was stopped twice because the players were subjected to racism. The English team - players and the coaching staff followed the protocol and took the issue to the officials during the game. Striker Harry Kane approached the referee to point out the chants that the players were subjected to. Coach Gareth Southgate, on the touchline, pointed out the incident to the authorities, including a UEFA delegate. Southgate said, "We reported every time we heard an incident. We confirmed with the fourth official if he had heard, who was in contact constantly with a UEFA delegate and the referee came across on two occasions that we felt necessary. You heard the stadium announcement after the first, with the second we had a long discussion with the players because it was four minutes to half time. They were keen to finish the half and have the discussion and see where we stood after half time."
'If proven, there should be punishment'
Bulgaria's manager, on the other hand, said that he had not heard any racist chants during the game and that the incident must be proven first. He said that if the incident is proven thewn they will be ashamed and will have to apologize. At half-time, Bulgaria captain Ivelin Popov was spotted having an animated discussion with home supporters. Many supporters of the Bulgarian team left the stadium after the game was halted for the second time.
A section of the stadium was barred from being occupied as a punishment for 'racist behaviour' by the fans during a previous home Euro 2020 qualifying match against Kosovo in June.
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Deputy Chief, Bobby Barnes said that he had spoken to the UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and has told him to take actions, especially since the world was watching the organization this time. He said, "I spoke to Aleksander this morning, and sadly it is a bit of a precedent as I spoke to him after the Montenegro game. I expressed my concern as to what had actually occurred at the game and impressed upon him that the whole world is looking at UEFA, to see what sanction is going to follow what was, in truth, the first successful implementation of the three-step racism protocol."
Updated 17:22 IST, October 15th 2019