Levski Sofia manager resigns day after being stripped by angry fans

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/oct/09/levski-sofia-coach-resigns-stripped-fans

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Levski Sofia's new manager Ivaylo Petev has resigned from the club, a day after being undressed and forced out of his first press conference by hostile Levski fans.

The 38-year-old was expected to hold his first training session as coach after saying he was keen to continue his work at the club despite the fans' anger, but changed his mind after discussing the situation with his family.

Petev, considered to be one of the best young coaches in Bulgaria after leading Ludogorets to back-to-back league titles, told a news conference: "What happened yesterday is extremely ugly and I would not like to work in such an environment."

Fans burst in shortly after the start of Petev's presentation to the media on Tuesday and made him take off the club's shirt before showing him the door, because they believe he is a supporter of rivals CSKA Sofia.

Petev was quoted by local media this year as saying he was a CSKA fan, adding that this had never stopped him being uncompromising against his favourite team on the field. But Petev said: "I did not say this. I have no sympathy for another Sofia club."

Petev was due to become Levski's fourth manager this year after the former players Ilian Iliev and Nikolay Mitov, and the Serbian Slavisa Jokanovic who was sacked on Tuesday.

"I considered many things and I also discussed it with my family," said Petev. "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."

The owner Todor Batkov, who labelled the fans' behaviour as a "disgrace … It's a stain on our club, this is unprecedented", named the former Levski defender Antoni Zdravkov as Petev's successor.

Zdravkov, who is the head of Levski's junior academy, will make his debut in the much-anticipated "eternal derby" against CSKA, on 19 October.

Levski are sixth in the standings with 19 points, nine behind the leaders, Ludogorets.

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