Bulgaria hit with stadium ban following racist abuse aimed at England players in Euro 2020 qualifier

A group of fans in Sofia’s Levski Stadium continually directed racial abuse at England’s black players, while some were also seen making Nazi salutes, which caused the game to be brought to a halt twice.

The Bulgarian Football Union was also fined 75,000 euros (£64,641) for ‘the racist behaviour of its supporters and the throwing of objects’.

The punishment, announced by UEFA on Tuesday afternoon, exceeds the standard sanction for a second offence at a home match within a period of five years, which would normally be one match behind closed doors.

It means Bulgaria’s qualifier against the Czech Republic on November 17 will be played behind closed doors.

The match against England was stopped in the 28th minute and the first step of UEFA’s anti-racism protocol – a public address announcement calling on the abuse to stop – was enacted.

The abuse continued and Croatian referee Ivan Bebek halted the match again just before half-time, though it was later confirmed this did not constitute the second step of the protocol under which the referee leads the teams from the field temporarily.

Monkey chanting and booing directed at England’s players and staff could still be heard during the second half, but the match was completed with England winning 6-0.

Click Here: cheap INTERNATIONAL jersey

The president of the BFU, Borislav Mihaylov, resigned the following day, with UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin saying the football family had to ‘wage war’ on racism.