The president of the Bulgarian Football Federation (BFU) Borislav Mihaylov, under pressure because of the poor results of the national team, announced his withdrawal on Monday after violent demonstrations by supporters.
“I presented my resignation in a spirit of appeasement,” declared the 60-year-old manager, at the helm for 18 years, after a meeting of the body in Sofia.
Contested for years, he was pushed towards the exit following the incidents of November 16 which left dozens of police officers and fans injured, on the sidelines of the Bulgaria-Hungary qualifying match for Euro-2024.
The Bulgarian players had then lost all hope of getting a ticket to Germany. Yet another failure poorly digested by the supporters – the last international tournament contested by their country dates back to the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.
Especially since the BFU had requested that the match be held behind closed doors, in order to prevent slogans in the stands against Mihaylov.
The person concerned denounced “unheard-of pressure, slander and permanent attacks”, saying he was “proud of what was accomplished” despite the setbacks.
Calls for his departure have increased in recent days.
The interim will be ensured by vice-president Mihaïl Kasabov until the congress planned for next year, which must ratify the decision and examine the new applications.
Borislav Mihaylov had already resigned in October 2019 after a scandal of racist insults during a match against England. But he ultimately reversed his decision and returned a year and a half later.
A record for longevity at the head of the BFU, this former goalkeeper from the glorious era of Bulgarian football in 1994 has been elected five times since 2005. His presidency was marked by recurring allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting, misappropriation of public funds and conflicts of interest.