See the new Levski Sofia manager’s shirt removed by fans angered by his appointment at a press conference announcing Ivaylo Petev’s arrival.
The event was crashed by around 20 Levski Sofia Ultras who gathered menacingly around the new manager and the two club officials who accompanied him.
Petev, 38, is considered to be one of the best young coaches in the Balkan country after leading Ludogorets to back-to-back league titles but Levski fans believe he is a supporter of bitter city rivals CSKA Sofia.
They apparently said to Petev:
You’re not welcome here. Get up, undress the shirt and go. Levski will not play under you as coach.
As you can see in the following clips, the menacing group force the new coach to remove his Levski shirt and sweater.
A topless Petev was then ushered out of the room before the Ultras turned on former player and all-time leading scorer, now club chief executive, Nasko Sirakov – who promptly responded by announcing his resignation:
This is the hardest day in my life, but I wonder if there’s a place in the world where the fans choose the coach.
The Bulgarian side’s owner, Todor Batkov, called the incident a “stain on our club”:
It’a stain on our club, this is unprecedented… But we stand behind our decision – Ivaylo Petev is the new coach of Levski.
The first video is a short clip of the new Levski Sofia manager’s shirt removed by fans, or you can get the full story from a variety of angles by watching the others.
UPDATE: Ivaylo Petev quits
On Wednesday Ivaylo Petev announced his resignation. BBC Sport report that:
The supporters were condemned in local media for “writing the most shameful page in the club’s history” but remained adamant they would not allow Petev to keep his post.
Petev said:
What happened yesterday is extremely ugly and I would not like to work in such an environment.
I considered many things and I also discussed it with my family.
I wanted to work at Levski but I didn’t expect that such a thing could happen in the 21st century.
This is something abnormal. I’m not a criminal, I’m not a thief, but yesterday I felt exactly like that.
… and again denied he was a CSKA Sofia fan:
I did not say that, I have no sympathy to another Sofia club.
Levski have announced former player Antoni Zdravkov as the club’s next manager – their fifth appointment this year. Batkov said:
The team will be coached by Antoni Zdravkov until the end of the year, at least.