Berbatov v Mihaylov and the battle for Bulgarian football’s future

Two years ago, almost to the day, Bulgarian football made headlines for all the wrong reasons. On the pitch Bulgaria lost 6-0 to England in a record home defeat. Off the pitch, in the stands of the Vasil Levski stadium in Sofia, racist abuse was directed at England’s black players.

The infamous Euro 2020 qualifier took place on 14 October 2019; the next day Borislav Mihaylov resigned as president of the Bulgarian Football Association. Immediately a temporary president, Mihail Kasabov, stepped in and it was reported he would be in the position until a new permanent head was elected. Yet for reasons including the pandemic, no election has happened.

<li>Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play sto…