The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ordered Tuesday the November 16 football match between Bulgaria and Hungary to be played at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia behind closed doors, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said here on Tuesday.
The decision of the European headquarters is based on the current opinion of the Interior Ministry, which is committed to the protection of public order before, during and after the European qualifier between the two countries, BFU added.
The Bulgarian Football Union called Plovdiv Municipality's refusal to allow the match to be played at the city's Hristo Botev Stadium as "unprecedented".
Initially, BFU’s decision to change the venue of the game from Sofia to Plovdiv came when plans for a major protest against the BFU surfaced. BFU representatives held talks with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), complaining that they had received alerts of "riots posing serious danger to public order are being prepared". Taking into account the BFU's complaints, UEFA's safety and security unit conducted an analysis and found the match between Bulgaria and Hungary to be a high-risk one. Thus, UEFA sent an official letter to the BFU recommending that the European qualification be moved from the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia to the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv and that it be held at an earlier time behind closed doors.
However, Plovdiv Municipality cannot provide the Hristo Botev Stadium to the BFU for the period between November 14 and November 16 for the European qualifier between the men’s national football teams of Bulgaria and Hungary to take place there on November 16, the municipality said in a press release earlier on Monday. The owner of the company responsible for the construction works on the stadium, Iliyan Filipov, announced that the deadlines for the termination of the construction works, demobilization and bringing the construction site to a state in which it will not endanger the life and health of citizens is too short and there is no way this can happen in this period. According to him, the current general construction works are tailored solely to the programme of the Botev (Plovdiv) football club and their implementation cannot be safely interrupted within the requested timeframe. Given the circumstances, Plovdiv Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov reaffirmed his Friday decision that the Hristo Botev Stadium cannot be used by the BFU in the period between November 14 and November 16, the municipality’s press release further reads.
The actions of the BFU are without precedent: there is no other case in the history of world football where the football union of a country has voluntarily asked to host a football match without fans.
/RY/
news.modal.text
