April 14 – The financial crisis in Bulgarian football is taking on new dimensions. The president of the Bulgarian Football Union, Georgi Ivanov (pictured), has revealed a worrying trend amongst top tier clubs, many of whom face losing their licenses due to financial.
Ivanov spoke at the annual BFU congress and announced that the licenses of nine clubs from the First League are threatened with being withdrawn for the new season due to various financial problems. Only six clubs have no problems and are financially stable.
“We must try to create footballers. If four teams train on the same field, it is difficult to create a classy player. We do not have a footballer in the top five championships in Europe, for comparison, Serbia has 17 players. The money from the Bulgarian Ministry of Sports is for other sports, the BFU does not receive subsidies from the state and I want to point out that,” said Ivanov.
“We thank FIFA and UEFA for the programmes in which we participate. The state should help not the Football Union, but the clubs. Five or six clubs are stable, the others are on the verge of bankruptcy. Nine clubs in the First League are in danger of losing their licenses. There are six or seven in the Second League,” Ivanov continued.
The Bulgarian Football Union is also experiencing deep difficulties. In recent months, the BFU has had to take out loans to pay salaries to its employees. For 2024, the Union posted a loss of BGN 4.2 million (€2.2 million).
“For 2024, the audit report is minus BGN 4,225,000 (€2.1 million). For 2025, we are at BGN 47,000 (€23,500) plus. We have BGN 2.4 million (€1.2 million) less revenue because we are not participating in the Nations League. From June, we will have BGN 4 million in revenue only from sponsorship contracts, so we will cover all the shortfalls,” assured Ivanov.
Contact the writer of this story, Aleksander Krassimirov, at moc.l1744715004labto1744715004ofdlr1744715004owedi1744715004sni@o1744715004fni1744715004