Hostile reception for Bulgaria as they arrive in Armenia

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Objects were thrown and a tirade of abuse from dozens of local fans was chanted when Bulgaria arrived at Yerevan Airport ahead of Friday's World Cup qualifier against Armenia.





Armed security forces formed a tight cordon to allow the players to get on the team bus through a smoke of red flares and deafening noise from the crowd.

Angry home fans booed the players and coaches. They also threw eggs, fireworks and other objects and cried 'Bulgarian gypsies'.

"If someone was aiming to scare the team ... I can tell you it wasn't achieved," visiting coach Luboslav Penev told reporters on Thursday.

"But I don't want to comment on things unrelated to football. There are people and commissions who deal with these issues."

In September 2012 Armenia filed a protest with soccer's ruling body FIFA about "poor officiating" and the treatment they received from the home team during a 1-0 qualifying defeat in Bulgaria.

Armenia finished the Group B match in Sofia with nine men after Swiss referee Stephan Studer sent off Marcos Pinheiro in the 73rd minute and Gevord Gazaryan four minutes later.

After the match Armenian fans said they were racially abused by home supporters.

Playoff hopefuls Bulgaria, who have not reached the World Cup finals since 1998, are second with 13 points from eight matches, seven behind Italy who have already qualified for next year's finals in Brazil.

Denmark are third on 12 points followed by both Czech Republic and Armenia on nine.

(Writing by Angel Krasimirov in Sofia, editing by Tony Jimenez)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world