By Alexander Krassimirov
April 4 – Players at Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv refused to train yesterday in a protest against unpaid wages. Meanwhile the club’s honorary president Hristo Bonev said publically that the future of the club was in doubt.
Bonev’s comments were not reassuring for the players, of whom only seven of the first team squad made it out on to the training ground but after just several minutes on the pitch returned back to the changing-room.
Lokomotiv’s players have not received salaries sine the beginning of the year. They have each received just one payment of BGN250 (€125 ).
Club officials have been attempting to locate owner Konstantin Dinev who, as far as the club is concerned, has disappeared.
“The tension in our club is great. The worst thing is that nobody knows what the fate of our club is. We have no contact with the owner Konstantin Dinev. Our directors also have no information. Currently we have a plane that is on autopilot. If you do not find the pilot next comes a disaster,” said Bonev.
It is expected the players of Lokomotiv will continue their boycott until they receive their salaries. It is not just the players who have become disillusioned with the club’s ownership. Supporters have become increasingly vocal in opposition to Dinev.
Lokomotiv have been no strangers to controversy in recent months. In March the club released their administrative director, Atanas Uzunov, accusing him of “political games”. The board claimed that he used his official position to “influence the supporters of the club and they participate in political actions against the government of country.”
Last October the club announced it is on the verge of signing a new partnership agreement with the Gazprom petrol station network. The news, announced on the club’s website, was denied by the Executive Director of NIS Petrol Ivan Kostadinov 24 hours later as “a complete work of fiction, there is no money for football.”
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