Football manager Lachezar Tanev responded sharply to the criticism of Stiliyan Petrov and said that the former national captain seeks power. Tanev made his statement in a telephone interview on the program “Arena Sport“ on BNT.
The reason for the absentee dispute was an interview with Tanev about the state of Bulgarian football. In it, he gave a positive assessment of some initiatives of the Bulgarian Football Union. This provoked a reaction from Petrov, who published a critical position on Facebook.
“Our football suffers from weeds“, wrote Petrov.The former captain questioned the moment when Tanev criticized the problems in Bulgarian football. According to Petrov, the manager was part of the same environment during the 15-year period he was talking about. He asked why these assessments were only given now and accused the defenders of the status quo of standing behind the BFU.
Tanev rejected the accusations
Lachezar Tanev asked for the right to reply and denied that his interview was prepared in advance or served anyone's interests.
„There is nothing set up in my interview“, Tanev said.He explained that the reason for Petrov's criticism, in his opinion, was his positive assessment of certain actions of the current management of the football headquarters. Tanev said that he had never been dependent on the BFU and that he expresses his positions regardless of who runs the organization.
The manager also rejected the assumption that he had personal ambitions for a leadership position. According to him, if he had sought power, he could have run for president of the Bulgarian Football Union and “with a high probability“ won.
The dispute over his role in football
In response to the definition “weed” Tanev recalled his football career, his participation in the national team and his long-standing work as an agent. He pointed out that he has been involved in this business since 1995.
According to him, dozens of Bulgarian football players have moved to foreign clubs with the help of him and his associates. Tanev also stated that these transfers have brought tens of millions of leva to Bulgarian clubs.
At the end of his speech, he sent a direct message to Stiliyan Petrov: “Stiliyan should start working seriously.“
The public clash between the two raises once again the question of responsibility for the accumulated problems in Bulgarian football and the assessment of the work of the current BFU leadership.