Angel Rusev talks about the latest problems that accompany the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation. One of the most prominent Bulgarian weightlifters believes that abuses in the headquarters should be stopped, that the maximum of what coaches and presidents can do should be done.
In the program “Arena Sport“ on BNT, Rusev also shared what the situation is related to the latest disturbances that are also preventing the start of a camp for the World Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo.
“After I posted my post on social networks, it spread quite quickly. I think that since then the sports ministry has started to react to the projects that Assen Zlatev and our clubs have submitted to them. I think they have started their preparations for overheating, but we are still waiting“, were his first words.
„My coach Radoslav Atanasov had arranged things so that we would be at a camp in Sofia 20 days ago and by the 10th we would leave for Ningbo, since we need to go there, recover, see what the atmosphere is like and focus on lifting, but right now we are waiting for them to tell us that the funds have been released and for us to go. It is not clear whether this will happen at all and whether we will go to the world championship, as well as whether we will have any camp. They said that our participation is certain, but we are not talking about just one participation, because we are watching how the Asian championship is going. The other competitors are doing perfectly because they have camps and the best recovery, as in our Bulgarian sport. Other sports win medals. If we don't have a camp, it will be quite difficult for us to achieve some of our best results that we are capable of“, added one of our best weightlifters.
The six-time European champion also answered the question of why this situation has come to this in one of the most successful Bulgarian sports.
“It has been quite a few years since I have been in the men's national team. I have been part of it since 2019 and we have not missed a competition without a medal in general. It has come to that point because we started winning many awards and a lot of funds started coming into the federation. As you know, many presidents have changed. We are currently waiting for exactly such a change. There is one coach because of whom we are in this situation. He filed a complaint after accepting Assen Zlatev as president. In this way, the federation cannot function at this point, because we are also waiting for the court. It is not good to say it, but we simply must not steal, but rather give as much as possible what coaches, presidents and whatever can, so that the sport can go within the normal framework.“
„We do not have a delay in monthly salaries, we simply have not received funds. The last were two or three salaries in January, February, March for the European. After that, we have not received a single penny from the state, because they are not salaries, but funds for preparation. All this is happening because of the disorders related to the misunderstanding in the federation and the coaching staff. Many things are included in the misunderstanding. Even the competitors no longer have such communication, because their personal coaches have more or less finished with the sport. In my opinion, they are provoked in this way. We see that things are not going well, and sport has traditions. This thing can be closed because of certain people who I think don't give much to the sport by hindering us“, he specified.
The weightlifter talked more about having to start a side job that is not related to weightlifting in order to survive and support his family.
„After the Bundesliga in Germany in the summer, I started looking for a job and the right one was a fast food driver. I worked 12 hours a day, I went to the gym at 9:00 in the morning and trained alone. Sometimes my coach would come because the others train later, but I stopped doing this job because I saw that I couldn't prepare for the World Championship. "12 hours is a lot, even when you train once a day... I thank Alex Mortezova and Panayot Panayotov, from whom I receive some funds to survive and feed my family," said Rusev.