The European Championship qualifying match between Bulgaria and Hungary, which is classified as a “high-risk game”, will be played behind closed doors in Sofia on Thursday (6 p.m.). The European Football Union (UEFA) announced this on Tuesday.
The game was actually supposed to take place in Plovdiv – even there without spectators. However, the authorities of the city in southern Bulgaria withdrew their consent to host the match on Monday. The expected riots by violent hooligans were apparently the decisive factor for this.
The new venue is the Wassil Levski National Stadium in the capital. UEFA said it had obtained the “necessary guarantees from the relevant local authorities and the stadium management”.