Bulgarian FA deny racist abuse allegations
Reuters - Thursday 06 October 2011, 10:48
The president of the Bulgarian
Football Union (BFU) has denied charges that home fans directed
racist chants at England players during the Euro 2012 qualifier
in Sofia last month.
"There were no racial chants during the game and the match
delegate said the same and there's nothing like this in his
report," Borislav Mihaylov told reporters on Thursday.
European football governing body UEFA announced on Wednesday
that the BFU would face charges of discriminatory behaviour
relating to chanting by their supporters following a complaint
by the English Football Association.
"Yes, we received a letter from UEFA yesterday but we'll
probably ask for postponement of the case because we want to
have more time to prepare a more detailed and clear answer,"
Mihaylov added.
The case against Bulgaria is scheduled to be heard by the
UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body on October 13.
After England's 3-0 victory in the Group G match, then
Bulgaria coach Lothar Matthaus issued an apology on behalf of
the BFU despite saying he didn't hear anything.
"I'm not worried," said Mihaylov, who is also a member of
the UEFA Executive Committee. "The English federation has
complained to UEFA but they already did it five times. They
probably believe they're blessed."
The BFU have made efforts to stop racism but there have
still been several ugly incidents in the Balkan country over the
last few years.
In 2005, CSKA Sofia supporters were heard aiming monkey
noises at Liverpool's French striker Djibril Cisse during a
Champions League match.