December 2 – Bulgaria’s Botev Plovdiv have confirmed that the club’s owner Anton Zingarevich (pictured) has been issued with a government ban on entering the country for a period of ten years. The club said that the Bulgarian authorities had confirmed the ban, but did not give any reasons for the decision.
In an official statement, the club said: “In a letter received on November 29, 2024, four weeks after our official inquiry, the Chairman of The State Agency for National Security (SANS), Mr. Plamen Tonchev, confirmed the news that the president of PFC Botev Plovdiv, Mr. Anton Zingarevich, has been included in a list of foreigners deemed undesirable to be in the country pursuant to Art. 21a, para. 1 of the Law on Foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria for a period of 10 (ten) years. In his letter, Mr. Tonchev states that the inclusion of Mr. Zingarevich in the list in question was on his initiative, but does not indicate the reasons for this decision.”
According to Bulgarian legislation, a foreign citizen can be banned from residing in the country on 28 different grounds.
“After carefully reviewing each of the grounds for refusal, we did not recognize Mr. Zingarevich in any of them. The letter of the Chairman of the National Agency for National Security raises more questions than it answers. It is not clear in what way and with what actions Mr. Zingarevich attracted the attention of the SANS and what specific legal basis gave the Chairman of the State Agency for National Security the opportunity to impose such a severe restrictive measure. How and in what way did the information about the inclusion of Mr. Zingarevich become known to the media, since Mr. Zingarevich himself was not aware of this? We draw your attention to the fact that Mr. Zingarevich has been deemed undesirable for a period of 10 years,” continued the club.
“It is not clear how and on what grounds this period was determined, given that the provision of Art. 21a, para. 1 of the Law on foreigners in the Republic of Bulgaria does not contain a period for imposing this measure. We will continue to ask questions of the institutions and will use all means permitted by law to find out the reasons for restricting Mr. Zingarevich’s rights. Since we are convinced that such reasons are either absent or irrelevant to the personality and activities of Mr. Zingarevich, we will make every effort to make them public.”
Zingarevich issued his own statement saying: “My desire to continue to care for the well-being of PFC Botev remains unchanged, as I have adopted the cause in ‘yellow and black’ as my own. I express my immense gratitude to all of you for the support you have provided, which you continue to express publicly. I do not understand and cannot agree with the methods by which individuals unknown to me clearly want me to be removed, giving up my permanent investment intentions.
“I assure you that I will not allow this to happen. I believe that you are all fully aware that I am not and cannot be a ‘threat to national security’ in a country in which I invest my personal funds, supporting and developing one of the sports emblems of Bulgaria.”
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1734897380labto1734897380ofdlr1734897380owedi1734897380sni@o1734897380fni1734897380