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### Viewing cable 10SOFIA32, BULGARIAN SOCCER RECEIVES A RED CARD FOR CORRUPTION

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
10SOFIA32 | 2010-01-15 12:12 | 2010-12-30 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Sofia

`

    VZCZCXYZ0001
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHSF #0032/01 0151243
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 151243Z JAN 10
    FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6601
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
    RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
    RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC 0281
    RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SOFIA 000032

    SIPDIS

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2019
    TAGS: PGOV KCRM KCOR BU
    SUBJECT: BULGARIAN SOCCER RECEIVES A RED CARD FOR CORRUPTION

    REF: 09 SOFIA 508

    Classified By: CDA Susan Sutton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

    ¶1. (C) Summary: Since the fall of Communism, Bulgarian soccer
    has become a symbol of organized crime's corrupt influence on
    important institutions. Bulgarian soccer clubs are widely
    believed to be directly or indirectly controlled by organized
    crime figures who use their teams as way to legitimize
    themselves, launder money, and make a fast buck. Despite
    rampant rumors of match fixing, money laundering, and tax
    evasion, there have been few arrests or successful
    prosecutions. As a result, the public has lost faith in the
    legitimacy of the league as evidenced by the drop in
    television ratings and match attendance. Recent scandals
    involving the most popular teams and the mass firing of the
    referee selection commission for a second consecutive year
    have deepened the public's disgust. The new government has
    started to investigate tax evasion and money laundering
    allegations against some soccer clubs, but, given the deep
    roots of organized crime in Bulgarian soccer, this has had
    little impact so far. Cleaning up Bulgarian soccer would be
    a public sign of the seriousness of the Prime Minister
    (himself a soccer fanatic) in combating organized crime. End
    Summary

    THE FALL OF "THE BEAUTIFUL GAME"
    --------------------------------

    ¶2. (C) Bulgaria is soccer country. It has long been the
    most popular sport, and despite scandals and the migration of
    many of its talented players to wealthier European clubs
    abroad, it is still a Bulgarian passion. The pinnacle of
    Bulgarian soccer was the 1994 World Cup, when Bulgaria
    defeated Germany to advance to the semi-finals, eventually
    finishing fourth overall. To this day, many Bulgarians only
    half jokingly refer to this as the country's greatest
    accomplishment since the fall of communism. After the
    transition to democracy, popular teams previously owned by
    the municipalities and state institutions such as the
    military or the police were sold to the new business elite
    notorious for its close ties with organized crime and the
    former secret services. Experts and journalists we
    interviewed claim that organized crime groups captured
    Bulgarian soccer in an effort to launder illicit profits and
    create a legitimate image. Today, nearly all of the teams
    are owned or have been connected to organized crime figures.
    The following list is just a sampling of the most well-known
    connections.

    ¶3. (C) Todor Batkov, the proxy and front-man for the
    infamous Russian-Israeli businessman Michael Cherney, aka
    "Mikhail Chorny," owns the popular Sofia team Levski FC. The
    powerful business conglomerate TIM owns Cherno More Varna.
    The notorious Marinovs, aka "Margin brothers," who are on
    trial for murder, racketeering, and organized crime, own
    Slavia. Nickolay Gigov, an alleged arms dealer, owns
    Lokomotive Sofia, and Grisha Ganchev, a known money launderer
    and organized crime figure, owns Litex. Vassil Krumov
    Bozhkov, aka "the Skull" was the former owner of CSKA, one of
    the most important Bulgarian teams. The last three
    presidents of Lokomotive Plovdiv, which has been periodically
    owned by the crime group VIS, have been assassinated.

    SCANDALS
    --------

    ¶4. (C) Given the ownership of the Bulgarian soccer clubs,
    allegations of illegal gambling, match fixing, money
    laundering, and tax evasion plague the league. A large
    scandal erupted in September 2009 during the run-up to the
    match between Levski and CSKA, the most important rivalry in
    Bulgarian soccer. Immediately prior to the match, four
    Levski players were put on a plane to Moscow as part of a
    last minute transfer to the Russian team, FC Rubin Kazan.
    Shortly after Levski's 2-0 loss to CSKA, it became clear that
    the transfer was a hoax and that the President of Levski,
    Todor Batkov, had been defrauded of the Euro 200,000 transfer
    fee. The local press reported that the odds for CSKA winning
    the game fell dramatically before the announcement of the
    transfer, possibly indicating large amounts of money bet
    against Levski. Theories on what really happened vary, but
    the most popular are that Batkov bet against his own team to
    pay back debts, or that the new owners of CSKA orchestrated
    the transfer. Despite preliminary investigations into the
    case, there have been no arrests.

    RUMORS OF MATCH FIXING
    ----------------------

    ¶5. (C) Long-standing allegations of match fixing have
    probably done the most to damage Bulgarian soccer's
    reputation. According to the sports editor of the daily
    "Trud," Vladimir Pamukov, and sports journalist, Krum Savov,
    the most common match fixing schemes are bribing referees and
    paying off players on the opposing club to insure a team
    loses by a certain score. They argue that thanks to
    organized crime influences and economic disparity between the
    teams, match fixing has become an extremely common practice.
    This has caused many Bulgarians to view the outcomes of
    soccer matches like Americans view the predetermined outcomes
    of professional wrestling. Pamukov highlighted the fall in
    television ratings and crowds at soccer games as evidence of
    this disillusionment, claiming that prior to the transition
    there would be 10,000 people at games and now 500 to 2,000
    show up.

    ¶6. (C) Journalists, critics and fans often cite illogical
    results and unexplainable play as the evidence of match
    fixing even though there have been few investigations and
    proven cases over the last twenty years. When there are
    arrests and evidence of corruption, cases often come to
    nothing or the accused are acquitted due to a lack of
    evidence. Ivan Lekov, a well-known former soccer referee and
    deputy head of the State Agency for Sports and Youth, was
    arrested in 2008 before TV cameras for allegedly
    orchestrating match fixing. Four former soccer referees
    broke their silence, claiming Lekov and the head of the
    Bulgarian Football Union's (BFU) referee committee applied
    pressure on them to fix matches. Following Lekov's arrest,
    the BFU dismissed the entire referee committee for the first
    time and passed a code of ethics for clubs. Despite these
    changes, match fixing has not dissipated and Lekov, often
    cited by the previous government as an example of its
    anti-corruption efforts, was acquitted due to a lack of
    evidence and witnesses refusing to testify. On December 14,
    2009 the executive committee of the BFU, in what is becoming
    an annual tradition, again fired the entire referee
    commission due to match fixing rumors. It also suspended two
    referees for poor officiating in recent league games, leading
    to even more suspicions. The Union of European Football
    Association (UEFA), the governing body of European soccer,
    also is investigating Bulgarian referee Anton Genov for his
    alleged involvement in fixing an international match.
    According to the UEFA, there were obvious irregular betting
    patterns prior to the international friendly match on
    November 14, 2009 in which Genov awarded four penalty shots
    during Macedonia's 3-0 victory over Canada.

    NEW GOVERNMENT MAKES SOME PROGRESS
    ----------------------------------

    ¶7. (C) Despite nearly universal recognition of the problem,
    few actions have been taken to prevent organized crime groups
    from dominating Bulgarian soccer. Upon taking office, the
    new government started to go after the most obvious tax
    evasion and money laundering schemes. In September, the
    Bulgarian National Revenue Agency (NRA) announced that eight
    of Bulgaria's top soccer clubs owed at least USD six million
    in unpaid taxes. NRA agents also discovered a commonly known
    phenomenon of soccer clubs paying, at least on paper, first
    division players minimum wage, approximately USD 170 per
    month. This blatantly contradicted tabloid photos of soccer
    players and their pop-star wives driving around in expensive
    cars and dining at the most exclusive restaurants. The NRA
    is currently checking whether the property of 261 players
    matches their declared income. The former president of CSKA,
    Alexander Tomov, and three co-defendants were also charged
    with embezzlement of USD 28 million in their official
    capacity at the CSKA soccer club and the Kremikovtzi steel
    works.

    ¶8. (C) Comment: Organized crime has had a destructive impact
    on Bulgarian football, mirroring to some extent how it has
    destroyed Bulgarian's faith in other institutions. The new
    government has started to attack some of the soccer clubs'
    most overt corrupt practices. Given the public's interest in
    soccer, which still is weekly tabloid fodder, a successful
    operation against OC bosses in charge of soccer teams would
    be a public relations coup. Going after the OC bosses, if
    successful, would be a public and popular campaign that would
    demonstrate the seriousness of the new government and its
    soccer-fanatic Prime Minister in combating organized crime.
    Government actions against soccer clubs would directly
    challenge the criminal bosses who have previously enjoyed
    virtual impunity and would seriously test the strength and
    resolve of Bulgarian law enforcement and courts. End
    Comment.

    SUTTON

`