site.btaBulgarian Sport Arbitration Chair Zlatareva Explains Legal Situation at Bulgarian Olympic Committee

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Margarita Zlatareva — Chair of the Bulgarian Sport Arbitration (BSA) with the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC), former Constitutional Court judge, former Supreme Court judge, university lecturer, and Doctor of Law with a dissertation on "Non-Profit Legal Entities", provided a legal opinion on the BOC current status following court disputes surrounding the decisions of the BOC General Assembly on March 19, where Olympic shooting medallist Vesela Lecheva was elected as the new BOC president.

High jump legend Kostadinova, who had led the BOC since 2005 and was seeking re-election for a sixth consecutive term, lost the vote by 33:48 in favour of Lecheva. However, after receiving complaints, the Sofia City Court suspended the registration of the new BOC leadership in the Commercial Register on Monday, meaning Kostadinova remains acting BOC President until a final court ruling on the case.

Zlatareva emphasized that until the court makes a ruling, the previous leadership, headed by Kostadinova, remains in charge, as the court has received a total of eight complaints challenging the legality of Lecheva’s election, thus halting the registration process. "The previous leadership remains legally in place, while the newly elected leadership must await a judicial ruling on the validity of its election," Zlatareva explained and added: "Decisions of a general assembly of any corporate-type non-profit legal entity, such as the BOC, are subject to judicial review, as stipulated in Article 25, Paragraph 4 of the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act."

Zlatareva further clarified that the claims by Lecheva’s team that the newly elected leadership could already function internally are unfounded. "This stems from a mistaken interpretation that the registration of the new executive body is merely declarative, not constitutive. […] In fact, the court has explicitly explained that the suspension is a temporary ban on actions by either party until the legality of the decisions is reviewed. This aims to ensure legal compliance," she noted.

"The outcome of this legal dispute will determine whether the new BOC Executive Committee members will be officially registered and able to take office. Until then, all consequences of the General Assembly’s decisions are "frozen"," Zlatareva concluded.

Earlier on Monday, newly elected BOC President Lecheva visited the Committee's headquarters at 4 Angel Kanchev Street in Sofia, but was not granted access to begin her duties. Lecheva was also unable to meet with any members of the current leadership, which remains in office pending a court decision.

Later in the day, acting BOC President Kostadinova issued a statement describing Lecheva's actions as an "attempt to forcibly install herself" at the BOC offices."An unregistered Executive Committee has no legal authority to make binding decisions or to engage the legally registered representatives of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee," Kostadinova’s statement reads. She added that she expects the competent court to rule soon on the validity of the complaints challenging the March 19 General Assembly decisions, in which Lecheva was elected. "Until then, I assure you that I will safeguard the interests of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee and ensure their protection," Kostadinova concluded.

The Sofia City Court’s refusal to register Vesela Lecheva and her team as the new BOC leadership can be appealed to the Sofia Court of Appeals.