At least 33 police officers and 24 fans were injured in clashes on the sidelines of Bulgaria’s UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier against Hungary on Thursday, which ended in a 2-2 draw, authorities said yesterday.
“Twenty-four injured were examined, including seven who were hospitalized with head traumas, broken legs and arms, and many who were gassed with pepper spray,” Katya Sungarska, an emergency center spokeswoman, told reporters.
“The injured police are 33, there are some with serious injuries and hospitalized,” Sofia Police Directorate deputy chief Stefan Ivanov told a news briefing.
Photo: AFP
Thirty-three fans were detained on Thursday night and arrests continue, he said, adding that the violence was “an unprecedented violation of public order with serious aggression and posing high risk.”
UEFA ordered the game to be played behind closed doors after a request by the national federation, which feared potential trouble following calls for a major protest against the Bulgarian Football Union.
Police said that more than 4,000 people were at the protest outside the national stadium in Sofia.
Photo: EPA-EFE
They shouted “resign” and held banners reading: “18 years is enough,” calling for Bulgarian Football Union president Borislav Mihaylov to step down.
Violent clashes erupted after fans started to throw smoke bombs, pavement blocks, stones and beer bottles at police lines.
More than 1,500 policemen in full anti-riot gear were in place to ensure security.
Two water cannon were deployed to disperse the crowd.
A reporter saw at least seven fans with head injuries after police pushed away the supporters, who set fire to a police minivan and several garbage containers.
Anger has built up in the past few years over the poor results of the national team, who have failed to qualify for any major tournaments and went through numerous coaches during Mihaylov’s time at the helm of the federation.
Despite the point earned in Thursday’s draw, Bulgaria are last in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, with three points from seven games.
Hungary qualified for the finals as a result of the draw.
Elsewhere, Slovakia also booked their tickets for Euro 2024 in Bratislava, cruising past Iceland 4-2 with two goals from Lukas Haraslin.
Hungary and Slovakia joined hosts Germany, as well as Austria, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Turkey as the teams qualified so far.
Spain beat Cyprus 3-1 with starlet Yamal opening the scoring in the fifth minute, while Scotland came from behind to draw 2-2 with Georgia in Tbilisi thanks to Lawrence Shankland’s 93rd minute equalizer and Montenegro beat Lithuania 2-0.
Portugal beat Liechtenstein 2-0 in Vaduz, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring his 128th international goal to extend his world record.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when
RSS