SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of Bulgarian football supporters on Thursday took to the streets of the capital, Sofia, in protest over the management of the national football union, a demonstration that eventually turned violent.
The qualifying match between Bulgaria and Hungary for next year’s European soccer championship fell victim to a bitter dispute between the management of the Bulgarian Football Union and soccer fans from across the Balkan country.
Minutes before the kickoff, fans began to throw makeshift bombs, stones and plastic bottles at the police. After trash cans were set on fire, police responded with water cannon. Media reported that several protesters were injured.
The last straw that infuriated the fans, whose anger had been simmering for a long time, came with the union’s decision to play Thursday’s match in front of empty stands at the national stadium in the capital.
Some 1,600 police in riot gear were dispatched to secure the area around the empty stadium in downtown Sofia.
The Bulgarian national team has failed to qualify for a major tournament for nearly two decades. After the latest two humiliating…
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