A Bulgarian court has ruled in favour of former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov, by enforcing his claim for fresh FA presidential elections in the country next month.
Berbatov, 40, has pledged to clean up Bulgarian football following the racist abuse of England players in Sofia two years ago, which saw the Euros qualifier twice halted to deliver warnings to the crowd.
Gareth Southgate has since admitted the England players came close to walking off the pitch in the face of the abuse from the stands.
England's Euro 2020 Qualifier in the Vasil Levski Stadium in October 2019 was stopped twice in the first half, as captain Harry Kane drew the referee's attention to the abuse being directed from the stands. Tyrone Mings, making his England debut, and Raheem Sterling were the prime targets of the racist chants.
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The current Bulgarian FA president, Borislav Mihaylov, will stand again in opposition to Berbatov after initially resigning from the post and then reinstating himself in the top job in April this year.
He was critical of Southgate and the English media in the wake of the trouble in Sofia, saying Bulgarian football fans had been wrongly labelled as racists. Since then, he has consistently opposed Berbatov's attempts to oust him from power.
Now, fresh presidential elections will be held on October 12.
In response to the court ruling, Berbatov has said: "We've already informed UEFA and FIFA about the [court's] decision.
"If the FA doesn't want to organise the election, we will be the ones to do it. I hope that UEFA will also send their representatives."