The financial benefactor of Botev (Plovdiv) Iliyan Filipov filed a lawsuit for defamation against the president of Slavia Ventseslav Stefanov, the Plovdiv football club announced, BTA reported.
As is known, last week the president of the "white" made accusations, stating in sports media that “Botev (Plovdiv) emissaries, close to their owner, came and asked Slavia players to sell the match”.
The two teams will meet in the 12th round of the First League on October 18 at 3:00 PM in Plovdiv.
"Ventseslav Stefanov made similar statements after the shameful match for Bulgaria against Turkey on Saturday evening. The behavior of the president of the oldest capital club is extremely unacceptable.
PFK Botev Plovdiv is a club with a glorious history and we cannot remain indifferent to such actions. We understand Mr. Stefanov's concern about the tension surrounding the capital derby with PFC Lokomotiv Sofia and the volleyball tactics that impressed the entire footballing Bulgaria.
But the pathetic attempt to shift the focus from the scandalous volleyball goal by involving PFC Botev Plovdiv in a “cup match” cannot remain without consequences. That is precisely why Iliyan Filipov filed a defamation lawsuit against Ventseslav Stefanov for the allegations made in the media.
We all remember what happened in the semi-final of the Bulgarian Cup in 2018 with the main actor being the referee Stanislav Stavrov. We all saw what happened at the end of last season in Vratsa. We call on Mr. Stefanov to focus on his own club and not try to involve PFC Botev Plovdiv in artificial scandals.
We strongly hope that the institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria, and in particular the Bulgarian Football Union, will not leave the shameful statement made by Mr. Ventseslav Stefanov without consequences and will take all necessary actions to clarify the truth about the situation," reads the official position of the "yellow-black" club.