Bulgaria player tells England squad racist abuse they suffered was ‘pre-planned and co-ordinated’
A BULGARIAN player told the England squad the racist abuse they suffered last night was “pre-planned and co-ordinated”.
According to Sky Sports News, the individual – who has not been named – spoke to the Three Lions players after his side were beaten 6-0 to apologise.
He is understood to have been so ashamed of what went on that he felt compelled to talk to Gareth Southgate’s men.
England’s black players, including debutant Tyrone Mings, were targeted by racists from as early as the warm-up in Sofia last night.
Southgate informed a Uefa delegate and a stadium announcement was made, as per the European football governing body’s protocol.
After a second complaint, the referee halted the game for a few minutes as England considered walking off.
They agreed to continue until half-time when they could discuss the issues at hand.
But as the match restarted following the enforced stoppage, a group of around 50 mostly hooded Bulgarian fans dressed in black exited the stadium together.
This collection of supporters, who were stood behind a banner of Lokomotiv Plovdiv hooligan group the Lauta Army, were deemed to be the most vocal in terms of racist abuse.
They were heard making monkey noises, booing England’s stars and made Nazi-style salutes.
It is not clear if they were forced to leave the stadium or they did it on their own volition as part of their plan.
But at least one supporter had a customised jumper made mocking Uefa’s anti-racism campaign with ‘No Respect’ written across the front.
However, after the Three Lions decided to carry on the match, racism was still heard inside the stadium even after that group had left, but there was considerably less audible abuse.
Uefa confirmed its control, ethics and disciplinary body will wait to read the referee’s match report and their delegate’s report before launching an investigation.
Bulgarian captain Ivelin Popov clearly heard enough racism to feel the need to go over to fans at half-time and beg them to stop.
Marcus Rashford praised his opponent who spoke at length to supporters by terrace barriers before going down the tunnel.
But manager Krasimir Balakov refused to admit any racist abuse took place during the game in Sofia and therefore would not apologise.
Instead he cited “unhappy fans” for the noises but insisted: “I personally did not hear the chanting.”
This morning, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov demanded FA chief Borislav Mikhailov resign.
The Minister for Sport, Krasen Kralev, revealed the Bulgarian PM has vowed to cut all ties with national football bosses until Mikhailov quits.
Kralev said: “A little while ago, the Prime Minister called me urgently.
“You know that in the last four years, the government has done a lot for the development of Bulgarian football.
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“But after the recent events, having in mind the whole state of football, after yesterday’s incidents, the Prime Minister has ordered me from today to suspend any relations with the football union, including financial ones, until the resignation of Borislav Mikhailov.”
And Raheem Sterling was quick to praise Borisov, tweeting: “A good move credits to you M. Borissov.”
The Manchester City winger also took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Balakov and blasted the sick fans as “idiots”.