Men's Football UEFA European Championship 2024

[Olympian1010 7,980]

 scored a goal. That's it. That's the post.

[Vektor 3,326]

It seems Bulgarian football is imploding right before our match against them. UEFA should have done something about this, like moving the match to a neutral country or something, but instead we are getting a match behind closed doors or no match at all with a Hungarian 3-0 victory. 

[Federer91 2,798]

56 minutes ago, Vektor said:

It seems Bulgarian football is imploding right before our match against them. UEFA should have done something about this, like moving the match to a neutral country or something, but instead we are getting a match behind closed doors or no match at all with a Hungarian 3-0 victory. 

This is 1000% the fault of the Bulgarian Football Union. I'm travelling now, but will tell the whole story later today, so everyone can read this circus.

[Roamingrover86 856]

 will be playing their home matches against  &  in Hungary at Pancho Arena, Felcsut. 
Hungarian Government & Football Federation has taken full responsibility for security & organisations of these matches which will be open to spectators. 

[rafalgorka 1,540]

And today Israel plays vs Kosovo in Prishtine. I hope this one won’t get violent

[Federer91 2,798]

So, here is the background story behind the current saga. Take some popcorn 

 

For many people around the world, when it comes to Bulgaria and football, they associate us with the 1994 World Cup run to the 1/2. Those players are without a doubt the most famous Bulgarian generation, as many of them also played in some of the biggest clubs in Europe. If you are a foreigner, you would rightfully think, that these people should be heralded for this achievement, which will never be duplicated. And for a large part of the older generations they still are.

 

But for the generations, that came after them and for the ones, that have been brewing in our football world, opinions couldn't be more opposite. The people who were once deemed "untouchable" by the whole nation are now some of the most hated people, on the level of politicians.. It's a Walter White TV-esq transformation. 

 

The "heroes" of the 1994 World Cup have been ruling the Bulgarian Football Union for 18 years now. After their careers ended in the early 2000s, on the heels of their popularity they made a campaign to take control of Bulgarian football, bring a more youth oriented mindset and get rid of the old model. And of course they won the Union election in 2005. 

 

But as the years went along, much progress wasn't being seen in the National team, in the youth ones, or the clubs themselves. The trajectory was actually going downhill. So probably over a decade has passed of nothing happening and around 2016-17 talks and anger started appearing, that it was time for a change. But it was largely amongst fans and journalists, not many people directly involved in football were taking it seriously. But more years passed and things got worse and worse and more people started talking, which has led the BFU to become like a dictatorship..

 

So the BFU has elections every 4 years to elect a President, who then proposes a board of 10-12 or how many people, i don't know... Safe to say, that these elections go as fair, as State elections in Russia. All clubs, who are members of the BFU can vote (if they can prove they are active). Previously there was a points system, teams from the First division got a X amount of point for their vote, the ones from the Second got Y and so forth. But the 1994 guys changed to the system to be more "democratic", so every club has 1 vote. Now if you are Levski Sofia or CSKA with combined 60 titles, or a club with a budget of 15 million, you get the same power in deciding how the Bulgarian football is going to be run, with a 5th division team from a village of 600 people. And in an Union comprising 300-400 clubs, even if the top 40-50 "professional" ones all voted together, it won't matter in the end. Because you know how easily regional clubs can be persuaded, when their whole existence depends on the BFU. 

 

This is only one thing, that the 1994 guys have made to assure they stay in power. They have repeatedly said, that they won't leave, they see no fault in them whatsoever, they have done their job in "paying the bills" and it's not their fault we came to be one of the worst teams in Europe. Everyone's opinion doesn't bother them one bit and they won't vacate the BFU, because they were "elected".

 

I'll continue with the latest so called elections next, but in some time, as work came up.  There is still more story leading up to the Hungary game.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Federer91

[Federer91 2,798]

Part 2 of the story 

 

I have to mention, that when i talk in general "1994 guys" in the BFU, it's not for all of the players from that team. It's for 7-8 people with the rest, including Hristo Stoichkov and Krasimir Balakov keeping their names out of this debacle. 

 

The current and ongoing President since 2005 is the goalkeeper Borislav Mihaylov. He has become a meme for a decade at this point. He regularly started appearing drunk and uncoordinated at events and after matches. After journalists and people online started mocking him, he stopped giving any interviews, frequently didn't go to the National team matches (he never goes to club matches lol), or in the few cases he was there, he left through the back doors before the matches were over. There was one time, when a car drove directly to the pitch to take him and bypass everyone waiting.

 

Going back to the 2017-18 years, there was an election, where the other candidates weren't allowed in the building, because they would "cause trouble" in the way the election is conducted. Then, i think in 2019 came the infamous game against England. We lost 0:6 at home and on top of that, there was a huge racist scandal, that broke in the West. The then Prime Minister finally forced Mihaylov to submit his resignation, for not only the humiliation on the football side, but because of damaging the whole image of the country. In this case the BFU has to organize new elections, but 6 months have passed and nothing happened. Then COVID hit, which was the blessing they always wanted, because everything is shut down and no one thinks about them.

 

Another year and a half passes with dealing with Covid, the Governments have also changed and Mihaylov has casually returned to the helm of the BFU. With no shame he says, that he never submitted a resignation, but was just on an indefinite paid leave.

 

Around this time a new candidacy was gaining ground, led by the last 3 great players we have had - Dimitar Berbatov, Stiliyan Petrov & Martin Petrov. With Berbatov at the helm, there was finally optimism, that things could change for better, as they made a great campaign around the country. But with the election coming the "1994 guys" weren't going to just give up the power. The BFU started excluding smaller clubs, who accidentally were going to vote for Berbatov. That election was 2 years ago, October 2021, no journalists were allowed inside the hall. They were watching from the corridors on monitors without sound, like a silent movie. Everyone was seeing people talking, but hearing nothing.. In the end Mihaylov "beat" Berbatov with 241 to 230 votes. Berbatov then appealed the election through the courts here, as he said there were countless frauds, but 2 years have passed and no final decision has been made. Meanwhile the BFU is continuing to rule like normal.

 

Around this part of the world, very few people will willingly resign from a position of power. Every country receives a sh*t ton of money from FIFA / UEFA. These people are draining that money for 18 years now and will fight to the bitter end for it. They have long ago stopped caring about football. We could be losing regularly 0:5 and be on the level of San Marino and Burundi and they would still say it's not their fault and just accept our position.

 

So, how is all of this connecting to the match with Hungary on Thursday. 

 

Bulgarian fans have largely abandoned the National team for many years with negative attendance being achieved with each passing year. But this is the exact scenario the BFU is wanting. The less people there are, the less the chances of anyone thinking about them, so they can continue "working" in the background. 

 

After the Berbatov debacle, club fans have started protesting more on club matches. They are booing, swearing Mihaylov and BFU, having signs against him etc. But of course there are rules for such things. The rulebook has penalties and the clubs are being fined after every game for all the stuff their fans say and do. The BFU is regularly collecting 10-20 000 Euros after each weekend just from fines. 

 

So the fans came up with the idea, that instead of hurting their favourite clubs, they can make a bigger protest on the match against Hungary and this way it could reach more people and outside the country. The biggest ultras from Levski - CSKA, to Botev and Lokomotiv Plovdiv have come together to fill the National Stadium. The sectors were distributed between the different team factions and everyone should have come in their jerseys.

 

But in a (genius) move, that no one expected, the BFU begged UEFA to have the match without fans and in a different city. This is probably a World's first, that a team is volunteering a home match behind closed doors and without the support of the fans.... But their plan hasn't worked perfectly. Given that this is all happening a week before the match, they can't screw Hungary completely and move the match in the other side of the country. They don't want the match to be in Sofia, so they moved it to Plovdiv, which is a close drive and not further disrupt the Hungarian organization. 

 

And here is the catch, the stadium in Plovdiv is still in construction. Matches are being played there, but there is ongoing work being done in the rafters and stands. The construction company have waited for this National team window to do some big work, as no matches were planned. They say they can't postpone the construction work in such short notice and it won't be safe to have a match there. The mayor of Plovdiv (the municipality have invested millions in the reconstruction) also said, that no match is going to be played there at this time (there will be new talks tomorrow).

 

Now people from BFU have phoned the owner of the construction company and threatened him, that if the match doesn't happen there, they would take back the license not only for this stadium, which is Botev's, but also for the other teams one, Lokomotiv, as well, since it is also being upgraded. They would make both Plovdiv teams play their matches outside of the city. When talking with the mayor, BFU have insisted, that the match will in no way be played in Sofia and Plovdiv is one and only option and if he doesn't allow it, the National team will forfeit the match 0:3 and could face consequences of disqualification in future events. 

 

Frankly i am approving a forfeit and disqualification. Then all of Europe will see this circus. In true BFU fashion, they just want this match be over with, because then the next home one will be in September 2024, in a years time and they can go back cruising in the background and wait for people to forget. It's a vicious cycle, that is happening for a decade. 

 

The saddest part is that no players or coaches have come forward and said, that they don't approve this move and boycott the match. No one has said, that football is for the fans and they are playing for the fans and wouldn't want to participate in such a farce... Another blind eye, like for 18 years..

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Federer91

[Federer91 2,798]

Today's news on the chaos. 

 

The mayor of Plovdiv has put his foot down and said that no match is going to be played there. And now the BFU is panicking and has picked a town, Kardzhali, near the Turkey border to host the match. Further, further away from Sofia  

 

There is a newly elected mayor there, who has no idea about football and what's going on. He just received a call a few hours ago to organize the match. But there is still no official decision from UEFA, if that stadium is eligible or not.

 

I wish Hungary say they won't tolerate this circus, because 3 days before the match it's not known where it's going to be played. Their whole schedule is screwed from the idiots of BFU. They should make a stand to play the match in Sofia.

[Federer91 2,798]

In the end, the match is going to be played in Sofia after all, how it should have been intended from the beginning... The whole circus shebang in the last 6 days served no purpose, beside further establishing the BFU as a laughing stock and angering whos who here, all the way to the Prime Minister, who shared his opinion, that it's time they resigned. But since UEFA has strict regulations of Governments interfering in the National bodies, he can only share an opinion. 

 

I saw today the Hungarian Federation have rightfully belittled the BFU as complete morons. They should have done it earlier. The match is still going to be behind closed doors, but the fans are continuing with their protest plans. The Hungarian fans are also invited to join, which from what i've seen is guaranteed to happen. 

[heywoodu 15,164]

1 hour ago, Federer91 said:

In the end, the match is going to be played in Sofia after all, how it should have been intended from the beginning... The whole circus shebang in the last 6 days served no purpose, beside further establishing the BFU as a laughing stock and angering whos who here, all the way to the Prime Minister, who shared his opinion, that it's time they resigned. But since UEFA has strict regulations of Governments interfering in the National bodies, he can only share an opinion. 

 

I saw today the Hungarian Federation have rightfully belittled the BFU as complete morons. They should have done it earlier. The match is still going to be behind closed doors, but the fans are continuing with their protest plans. The Hungarian fans are also invited to join, which from what i've seen is guaranteed to happen. 

They can close the stadium all they want, I'm going to assume they have no power over the streets around them  

 

Now you got me curious for pictures from the city Thursday  

Edited November 14, 2023 by heywoodu