The protest against the BFS – blood, brutally beaten, children were also beaten, a police bus burned, arrested

Football fans of various clubs in the country, including CSKA and Levski, united in an unprecedented way and protested against Borislav Mihailov’s 18-year rule in BFS. At the same time, the Bulgarian national team is playing a European qualifier against Hungary behind closed doors at the Vasil Levski Stadium at 7 p.m. The police in Sofia took unprecedented measures to prevent supporters from entering the sports facility, which remained empty.

What happened:

20.01 hours

The deputy director of the SDVR, Stefan Ivanov, announced that there were injured police officers during the riots. They were pelted with stones and fireworks. The SDVR said that these were “unprecedented acts of vandalism and aggression”.

7:40 p.m

There are men arrested. They are handcuffed in front of the Ministry of Sports.

7:00 p.m

The match has started. The fans set several trash cans on fire and marched toward the police again. At the entrance to the “Gurko” block, a man was brutally beaten by the police. His condition is unknown. An ambulance is coming to the scene. Furious fans gutted a police bus of “Vasil Levski” to the Ministry of Sports and took the police shields and everything inside. They then set it on fire, chanting “where’s your water now”. There are also reports of beaten children.

6:40 p.m

The police took measures and pushed all the protesters along “Gurko” street. He started to disperse the fans. The law enforcement authorities began to impose with batons and spray – both those on the front line, but also passers-by, all the way to the building of the Ministry of Sports. There are people standing with their families on the sidewalk, with injuries. One person has a broken arm from being hit with a club.

18.20 hours

The tension around the stadium escalated sharply. Football fans started throwing bombs and rockets at the police. Police fired a water cannon at the barricade and warned that force would be used if they did not stop.

17.50 hours

Protesters sing the national anthem and demand resignation.

17.40 hours

CSKA fans blocked a key intersection near the stadium – Orlov Most.

5:30 p.m

Bulgarian and Hungarian fans come together to the protest against the BFS management around the Vasil Levski National Stadium. All approaches to “Evlogi Georgiev” – from “Dragan Tsankov” and from “Orlov Most” are blocked by the police. All fans will be gathered in the zone by the Ministry of Sports (“Vasil Levski” Blvd.) on “Gurko” Street, shortly before “Evlogi Georgiev”.

17.00 hours

The uniformed have formed a perimeter around the National Stadium from the Orlov Bridge, near the monument to the Soviet Army and in the Boris Garden in front of the CSKA “Bulgarian Army” stadium and around the public transport stop at the corner of “Dragan Tsankov” and “Evlogi Georgiev” boulevards.