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Bulgarian Soccer Chief Resigns After Fans’ Racist Abuse of England Bulgarian Soccer Chief Resigns After Fans’ Racist Abuse of England
(about 5 hours later)
LONDON — The president of Bulgaria’s soccer union stepped down on Tuesday after the prime minister called on him to resign in the wake of racist abuse that Bulgarian fans hurled at England’s players during a game the night before. In the hours after Bulgarian soccer fans made monkey chants, raised arms in Nazi salutes and verbally abused black players on England’s national soccer team on Monday, outrage spread from the field to soccer officials and fans around the world.
Bulgarian supporters made Nazi salutes and shouted monkey chants at England during a European Championship 2020 qualifier match with Bulgaria’s national team on Monday night in Sofia, the capital. The local team lost 6-0. The English team condemned the fans’ actions and resolved to keep playing. The president of Europe’s soccer league called the behavior unacceptable, fueled by rising nationalism. And on Tuesday Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of Bulgaria forced the head of the country’s soccer federation to step down.
Fans’ racial abuse toward players has been a stain on the game for years. And the episode comes as the sport and its governing bodies — including FIFA and UEFA, which oversees European soccer — have struggled to clamp down on the racist abuse of players of color. But for him and many other Bulgarians, the vitriol hurled by the fans could not have come as too great a surprise: Hate speech has grown more mainstream in Central Europe with the rise of nationalist parties in recent years. Three of those parties have joined the governing coalition in Bulgaria, with the prime minister mostly tolerating their worst behavior.
Efforts to eradicate discrimination, such as UEFA’s “No to Racism” campaign and English soccer’s equality and inclusion organization, Kick It Out, have made inroads to tackling the issue, but episodes of racial abuse during local and international games have continued. On Monday night, that kind of conduct was televised across the Continent at the European Championship 2020 qualifier match in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. There, as in many countries in Europe, the most extreme political groups tend to be tied — if not officially, then often ideologically — with the most extreme soccer fans.
In Bulgaria, the game was stopped twice in the first half because of the Bulgarian fans’ actions. Tyrone Mings, an England defender making his debut for the national team, who appeared to be a target of the racist chants, told the BBC that he had heard the abuse “as clear as day.” So for soccer’s governing bodies, including FIFA and UEFA, which oversees European soccer, the episode underscored the difficulties of clamping down on the racist abuse of players of color in an era of rising far-right forces around the world.
“It doesn’t affect me too much,” he said, and added, “I feel more sorry for those people who feel they have to have those opinions.” In a statement released on Tuesday, UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, blamed the rise of nationalism in Europe for encouraging racist behavior among soccer fans.
Mr. Mings also said that the players, manager and supporting staff had spoken about the situation during half time and decided as a group to continue playing. “UEFA is committed to doing everything it can to eliminate this disease from football,” he said. Soccer teams and organizations, he said, needed support from governments to “wage war on the racists and to marginalize their abhorrent views to the fringes of society.”
The chairman of England’s Football Association, Greg Clarke, was in the stadium at the time and said that he had heard “examples of appalling racist chanting,” which left many England players and staff members visibly upset. Despite efforts to eradicate discrimination, such as UEFA’s “No to Racism” campaign and English soccer’s Kick It Out program, episodes of racial abuse have marred matches in France, Italy, Slovakia and other countries around Europe.
England’s team captain, Harry Kane, posted on Twitter that he was proud of the “togetherness” that the team had showed in “disgraceful circumstances.” Even before the match on Monday, England’s manager, Gareth Southgate, worried about potential racist abuse during the visit to Sofia — Bulgaria was fined by UEFA in 2011 for racist chants by fans in a match against England. Borislav Mihaylov, the president of Bulgaria’s soccer union, took offense at Mr. Southgate’s suggestion.
“Racism has no place in society or football. It needs stamping out for good,” Mr. Kane added. In a letter to UEFA’s general secretary last week, Mr. Mihaylov called the England manager’s claims that his players could face abuse from spectators “offensive” and “derogatory.”
The Bulgarian Football Union’s president, Borislav Mihaylov, resigned on Tuesday, after the country’s prime minister, Bokyo Borissov, called for Mr. Mihaylov to step down. But it did not take long for the chants to begin raining down from the stands. By the 28th minute, play was stopped to try and get the situation under control. An announcement was made in the stadium that the match could be called off unless the behavior stopped, in line with UEFA’s three-step anti-racism protocol.
The prime minister said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he strongly condemned the conduct of some of the fans at the stadium, and said it was “unacceptable” that Bulgaria should be associated with racism. But in the 43rd minute, play had to be stopped again. This time, with their team losing 3-0, dozens of Bulgarian supporters who had been involved in the monkey chanting left the stadium.
A short statement posted on the Bulgarian Football Union’s website said Mr. Mihaylov had quit in light of recent tensions that had been “detrimental” to the organization and to Bulgarian soccer. The chairman of England’s Football Association, Greg Clarke, was in the stadium at the time, and called the racist chanting he had heard “appalling.” It had left many England players and staff members visibly upset, he said.
England’s team captain, Harry Kane, posted on Twitter that he was proud of the “togetherness” that the team had shown in “disgraceful circumstances.”
“Racism has no place in society or football. It needs stamping out for good,” he added. Several England players expressed support for action against racism in soccer.
The episode Monday also renewed concern about the effect hate speech is having on society and politics more broadly. In Bulgaria, as in other Central European nations, groups attacking migrants also frequently target the Roma or other minority groups. And as the number of migrants looking to enter Europe has fallen, the attacks on other groups has picked up.
Some of the most extreme voices in Bulgaria can now be found within the government. In order to stay in power in 2017, Mr. Borisov needed to form a coalition with the three ultranationalist parties, called the United Patriots, even though some of its members have a history of calling for violence against migrants, denigrating women and using vile language.
In 2014, Valeri Simeonov, a prominent lawmaker in the far-right Patriotic Front, one of the United Patriots parties, declared that “parts of the Roma ethnicity” in Bulgaria have become “arrogant, ferocious anthropoids,” and compared Roma women to dogs.
He would go on to become the country’s deputy premier and the chairman of Bulgaria’s National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues.
He stepped down in 2018, blaming a “media campaign” for making his work impossible.
He was not alone in making racist and offensive comments. Bulgarian reporters unearthed Facebook posts by Deputy Interior Minister Stefan Balabanov, later deleted, in which he called Roma and refugees “scum” and “apes.” Two more lawmakers were discovered in pictures giving Nazi salutes in 2017.
All of this has largely been tolerated by Mr. Borisov, who needs the support of the far right to hold his governing coalition together.
But with the sporting world focused on his country on Tuesday, he condemned the conduct of some of the soccer fans in a Facebook post, saying it was “unacceptable” that Bulgaria should be associated with racism, claiming that the country was one of the most tolerant nations in the world.
A short statement posted on the Bulgarian Football Union’s website Tuesday said Mr. Mihaylov had quit in light of recent tensions that had been “detrimental” to the organization and to Bulgarian soccer.
The Bulgarian team’s response to the fans’ abuse was mixed. The captain, Ivelin Popov, was praised by England player Marcus Rashford — another black soccer star targeted by the racist chants — after Mr. Popov was pictured talking to a group of supporters during half time, thought to be remonstrating their behavior.The Bulgarian team’s response to the fans’ abuse was mixed. The captain, Ivelin Popov, was praised by England player Marcus Rashford — another black soccer star targeted by the racist chants — after Mr. Popov was pictured talking to a group of supporters during half time, thought to be remonstrating their behavior.
But Bulgaria’s goalkeeper, Plamen Iliev, said he had not heard any abuse, adding that he thought the home side’s fans had “behaved well” and that he thought the England players had “overreacted a bit.”But Bulgaria’s goalkeeper, Plamen Iliev, said he had not heard any abuse, adding that he thought the home side’s fans had “behaved well” and that he thought the England players had “overreacted a bit.”
Bulgaria’s coach, Krasimir Balakov, said, “I personally did not hear the chanting,” adding that he would be “truly sorry if it did turn out to be true.” For their part, England’s players said they wanted to let their play on the field speak for itself. They ended the match winners, 6-0.
Before Mr. Mihaylov’s resignation, one of England’s players who appeared to be a target of the discrimination, Raheem Sterling, praised the Bulgarian prime minister’s efforts to get the soccer chief to step down.
Mr. Sterling, who has experienced some of the most scorching racist attacks of any soccer player, has become one of the strongest voices fighting back by calling out discrimination in soccer and in tabloid newspapers’ treatment of black players.
He has leveraged his huge following on social media to do so. After one episode at a Chelsea game, he posted on Instagram: “I am not normally the person to talk a lot. But when I think I need my point to be heard I will speak up.”
England’s team on Monday showed a united front on social media against the discrimination and abuse that they encountered during the match, which it dominated. And several players expressed support for Mr. Kane’s call to take action against racism in soccer.
The game was stopped in the 28th minute and the 43rd minute because of the actions of the Bulgarian fans, some of whom wore black hooded tops and others bandanas to cover their faces.
After the first break in action, an announcement was made in the stadium that the match could be called off unless the racist abuse stopped, in line with UEFA’s three-step anti-racism protocol.
During the second break, dozens of Bulgarian supporters who had been involved in the monkey chanting left the stadium.
Before the match, Mr. Mihaylov, Bulgaria’s soccer chief, had written to UEFA’s general secretary to complain about comments made by England’s manager, Gareth Southgate, about potential racial abuse that his players could face during the Sofia visit.
Mr. Mihaylov had called the England manager’s claims that his players could face discrimination from spectators “offensive” and “derogatory.”
But Mr. Southgate’s comments were prescient.
“This is not the first time our players have been subjected to this level of abuse and there is no place for this kind of behavior in society, let alone in football,” England’s Football Association said on Twitter after the game, calling on UEFA to investigate the episode.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said on Tuesday that the racism England endured during the match was “vile,” and also endorsed the idea that UEFA should conduct an investigation into the matter, “with tough penalties to follow.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, UEFA’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, blamed the rise of nationalism in Europe for encouraging racist behavior.
“UEFA is committed to doing everything it can to eliminate this disease from football,” he said, adding that soccer teams and organizations needed support from governments to “wage war on the racists and to marginalize their abhorrent views to the fringes of society.”