Daily Times

SOFIA: Bulgaria’s long-term football union president Borislav Mihaylov was re-elected on Tuesday for a new term in office despite a controversial record at the helm of the BFU, marred by a racism abuse scandal. A total of 241 delegates at the union’s congress supported Mihaylov for a slim win against his major challenger, former Bulgaria captain and Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov, who was backed by 230 delegates. Three clubs did not cast ballots. This will be the fifth four-year term in office for the 58-year-old former goalkeeper, whose tenure has been dotted with numerous allegations of match-fixing and bribing of referees and was severely marred by a racist abuse scandal during a Euro 2020 qualifier against England in October 2019 that forced him to resign. The match, which England won 6-0, was halted twice after England players were targeted by racist chanting, sparking an international outrage and prompting UEFA to urge a “war” on racists. The BFU however kept postponing calling a congress to elect his successor and Mihaylov waited for the initial storm to be over and surprisingly withdrew his resignation earlier this year.