March 7 – Botev Plovdiv owner Anton Zingarevich has published an open letter to players and staff expressing his outrage over the team’s results since the beginning of the year. Botev’s team has not yet won a single league match and was eliminated from the Bulgarian Cup by champions Ludogorets on penalties.
Zingarevich, who was banned from entering Bulgaria for ten years, with Bulgarian authorities declaring the Russian businessman a “threat to national security”.
Following Zingarevich’s ban, there was speculation that the club’s finances were at risk and that players and coaches had not been paid in recent months.
Zingarevich denied these reports, but expressed his disappointment that while the club’s finances were secured, but the results achieved were not at the required level.
“Dear Botev fans, I am addressing all of you to express my opinion and bring complete clarity regarding what has been happening in the club since the beginning of the 2025 football year,” said Zingarevich in his open letter.
“First of all, I would like to state that I am dissatisfied with the current form and results of the representative men’s team, achieved in the past matches of the championship and the Bulgarian Cup tournament. The players who achieved the positive results in the Fall are not at the level expected at this stage of the competition. What is the reason for this is a matter of conversation and analysis, but I realise that after the restrictions imposed on me, it is entirely possible that my absence has had a negative impact on the belief in the future and the mobilization in the team.
“The unfulfilled incoming transfers, as well as the speed with which things are improving in terms of sports and technology, are not what I expected. My express wish is for the team to develop, attracting classier replacements for the football players who are leaving. This did not happen during the winter break and the reasons for this are yet to be clarified,” he continued.
“Since there is a lot of speculation on the issue related to the club’s financing, I want to assure you that the provided budget does not correspond to either the game shown and the results achieved, or the efforts that are being made to compensate for all the side problems and for Botev Plovdiv to continue developing in an upward direction.
“I continue to do everything possible so that the ban imposed on me does not negatively affect the club, including on issues of a financial nature, but I see and understand the offense in society from the series of failures, which makes my efforts absolutely invisible,” Zingarevic concluded.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimorov, at moc.l1741485430labto1741485430ofdlr1741485430owedi1741485430sni@o1741485430fni1741485430