Bulgaria v England racism: Bulgarian prime minister calls for football chief to resign

England players and officials considered leaving the field but chose to stay on in Sofia

The Bulgarian prime minister has called for the head of the country’s football association to resign after England players were racially abused in a European qualifier in Sofia on Monday.

The match was halted twice because of racist behaviour by home fans.

Prime minister Boyko Borissov has asked his sports minister to suspend all relations with the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU), “including financial ones”, until Borislav Mihaylov resigns.

England won the qualifier 6-0.

“The prime minister called me urgently a short time ago,” Bulgarian sports minister Krasen Kralev said.

“The government has done a lot for the development of Bulgarian football in the last four years.

“But after the recent events, having in mind the whole state of football and last night’s incidents, the prime minister has ordered me from today to suspend any relations with the BFU, including financial ones, until the resignation of Borislav Mihaylov.”

Before the match, BFU president Mihaylov, a former Reading goalkeeper, had complained to Uefa about “unjust branding” after the build-up was overshadowed by fears England’s players could be subjected to abuse.

On Monday, abuse, including Nazi salutes and monkey chanting, were aimed at England players, leading to play being stopped twice in the first half.

Play was first stopped just before the half-hour mark when the referee came to the side of the pitch to speak to England manager Gareth Southgate.

After a stoppage of around five minutes, play continued until the 43rd minute when the game was halted for a second time.

The Vasil Levski Stadium was already subject to a partial closure for the match after Bulgaria were sanctioned for racist behaviour during Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic.

More to follow.