Bulgaria's football coach Krassimir Balakov has resigned four days after the racism incident in the European Championship qualifier against England (0: 6). The entire leadership of the national association (BFU) also submitted its resignation according to an official statement. It was "agreed that the performance of the national team were last disappointing." A successor to seek ex-international Jordan Letschkow, shooter of the decisive 2: 1 in the World Cup quarter-final 1994 against Germany.
Balakov, longtime Bundesliga professional at VfB Stuttgart and 2012 coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, claimed after the final whistle on Monday in a first interview to have heard nothing of the monkey sounds and even worse incidents in Sofia. At first Balakov had trivialized the incident. Later he apologized in a mail.
From the English offensive player Raheem Sterling Balakov had been criticized for his comments.
Mmmmh ... Not sure about this one chief https://t.co/Jyjr6vFtA8
- Raheem Sterling (@ sterling7) October 14, 2019The meeting had been several times before demolition, the English stars had been insulted with monkey lutes, scornful songs and the Hitler salute. The case had caused international outrage.
The European Football Union (Uefa) has opened disciplinary proceedings. Association President Boris Mikhailov had also resigned in the wake of the scandal under pressure from the Prime Minister.