Former member of the Executive Committee of the Bulgarian Football Union Petar Velichkov reacted extremely sharply after the national team’s crushing 0:5 defeat to Iceland. Dimitar Berbatov’s former ally did not hide his disappointment with what is happening in Bulgarian football and issued a direct call for the resignation of BFU president Georgi Ivanov.
In a social media post, Velichkov recalled the promises made by Ivanov when he took over the leadership of the football federation and assessed the development of the national team over the past three years. According to him, the results clearly show that expectations have not been met.
The former Executive Committee member highlighted Bulgaria’s series of disappointing results – the 0:5 defeat to Iceland, which, according to him, brought the aggregate score against this opponent to 0:8 across the two matches. He also recalled the loss to Luxembourg on Bulgarian soil and the 0:0 draw with Estonia.
Velichkov also expressed dissatisfaction with Bulgaria’s position in the FIFA world rankings, as well as the low level of interest in the national team. According to him, only around 300 spectators attended the latest match. He also questioned the decision to hold the national team’s games in Plovdiv, after it was initially stated that interest in the team in Sofia was insufficient.
Velichkov’s criticism was not directed solely at Georgi Ivanov. He also made ironic remarks about the leading figures in Bulgarian football, mentioning Hristo Stoichkov and questioning the results of the current administration’s work.
According to him, the most unequivocal assessment of the national team’s condition came from the few spectators at the stadium, who repeatedly chanted “Resignation”.
At the end of his post, Petar Velichkov raised the question of whether the time had come for Georgi Ivanov and Hristo Stoichkov to step down from their leadership positions. He concluded with a categorical call for the BFU president to leave his post and insisted that Stoichkov stay away from the management of Bulgarian football.