The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation issued an official statement on its website, confirming the reasons for not allowing two of our most titled classics to the World Championships in Zagreb - Semen Novikov and Kiril Milov.
The reason, which was already being commented on in the hall, is now in black and white: The two CSKA athletes did not participate in the centralized training and camps of the national team.
Here is what the headquarters explained:
"In connection with inquiries received from media representatives regarding the non-participation of athletes from SKB CSKA at the upcoming World Championships, the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation (BF Wrestling) states the following:
On 2 April 2025. The Board of Directors (Board) of the Bulgarian Wrestling Federation has unanimously adopted a decision introducing as a basic principle in the preparation of national competitors their participation in the camps of the representative national teams in the three styles - classic, freestyle and women's.
According to the decision, the condition for the participation of competitors in European and world championships, as well as in the Olympic Games, is that they be part of the preparation and camps of the national teams. Exceptions are allowed only in extraordinary and exceptional cases, after a proposal by the head coaches of the national teams and a decision of the Board. This decision has not been canceled. On the contrary, it has been confirmed several times by the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling and is part of the federation's policy to build strong and competitive national teams through systematic training of the Bulgarian national teams.
In implementation of this decision, a total of 9 invitations have been sent to the athletes of SKB CSKA to participate in the national team's training camps. These invitations have not been accepted so far.
The Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling is categorical that the rules for the national teams must apply equally to all athletes, regardless of their club, name, titles and achieved results. That is why the Board of Directors cannot allow some nationals to comply with the decisions of the federation and participate in the preparatory camps, while others are registered for the largest international competitions, without having fulfilled the conditions adopted by the Board of Directors.
In this regard, the Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling also announces one of the motives for the dismissal of Belcho Goranov as General Secretary: systematic non-implementation and sabotage of the Board of Directors' decisions. A particularly striking example of this motive was a letter to the International World Wrestling Organization (UWW), which requested that additional CSKA competitors be registered for the World Championship. This action was taken by Belcho Goranov despite the explicit decision of the Board of Directors of the Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling of April 2, 2025 and despite the fact that the athletes of SKB CSKA have been repeatedly invited to join the national team camps.
It is particularly important that this action was taken without a decision of the Board and without coordination with the Chairman of the Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling Stanka Zlateva.
For the Board of Directors of the federation, this is another example of circumventing collectively made decisions and acting on behalf of the Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling outside the powers and will of its management.
The Bulgarian Federation of Wrestling emphasizes that the issue is not related to the personality of specific athletes or their sporting qualities and merits. The issue is compliance with the rules adopted by the Board, which must be the same for everyone.
BF Borba will not allow the decisions of the Board to be circumvented or attempts to represent the federation before international organizations in a manner that contradicts the decisions of its collective governing body."