The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Congress began with a minute of silence in memory of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Patriarch Neophyte. The battle for a new president is being fought in h. "Marinella" in the capital. 464 are the delegates present. The general assembly is broadcast live on the headquarters' YouTube channel, reported BGNES.
As is known, there are seven candidates for Borislav Mihailov's successor. Favourites for the position are Dimitar Berbatov, the technical director of the football union Georgi Ivanov and the vice president of the headquarters Mihail Kasabov. The others are Georgi Gradev, Manol Ivanov, Georgi Zahariev and Petyo Kostadinov. Each of them will have five minutes to speak out about their platforms for the development of the BFU.
The vice president of the BFU Borislav Popov is the presenter. Five observers from FIFA and UEFA will attend it. All are highly experienced and have attended several conventions and will keep a close eye out for irregularities at all levels.
Early in the morning, there is a massive police and gendarmerie presence around the hotel. Yesterday, The Sofia Metropolitan Police announced that no notice of protest had been received. However, law enforcement is on alert. Fans will not be allowed near the building and parking lot. They will be able to gather in the garden of the temple "St. Christ's Cross", which is located across "James Boucher" Blvd.
At the disposal of the Sofia Metropolitan Police will be one of the water cannons that went into action during the protests a few months ago.
"There will be a designated place where the fans can observe, and I inform them to be patient, they will be checked in 3 rounds, and maybe from the fourth round. We will take the strictest and uncompromising measures against violators of public order." said Ivan Georgiev, head of the "Mass events" sector at the Sofia Metropolitan Police.
He stated that the security of the Congress itself and the hotel is a commitment of the BFU and 3 security companies are engaged for the case.
"We have information that representatives of various football circles will be present who want to express their opinion about the candidates. The police officers will be sufficient. There will be one water cannon available, and if necessary the other will be called. Let's hope that nothing will go wrong and everything will go as we planned", added the Sofia Metropolitan Police.
Towards the beginning of the congress, there are a handful of protesters, but they do not cause a problem for the security guards.
Unlike everyone else, BFU President Bzhorislav Mihailov entered through the back entrance of the Marinela Hotel before the start of the Congress. As expected, Mihailov did not talk to journalists, and his security did not allow us to approach him. One of the items on the agenda of today's extraordinary election Congress of the BFU is the voting on the resignation of Borislav Mihailov. /BGNES
