The Bulgarian national football team’s planned European Championship qualifier against Hungary is about to be canceled.
The city of Plovdiv cannot release the stadium, which is currently under renovation, for the game in Group G, Mayor Kostadin Dimitrov told Bulgarian media.
“It cannot take place because otherwise there would be a risk to human life,” he explained.
BFS President: Cancellation would be an “absolute catastrophe”
Canceling the qualifying match would mean it would be counted as a 3-0 win for Hungary. This would give the Hungarians a secure ticket to the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany.
The President of the Bulgarian Football Association (BFS), Borislav Mikhailov, appealed to those responsible to do something so that the game could take place. A cancellation would be an “absolute catastrophe,” he told Bulgarian public television BNT. The European football union UEFA could exclude Bulgaria from all international competitions for many years, Mikhailov said.
Hosting the game in the capital Sofia had already been ruled out earlier. The police declared themselves unable to protect the venue against violent Bulgarian hooligans.