CSKA Sofia
Owner Grisha Ganchev announces his departure from the club – again
After years of uncertainty and off-the-pitch issues, CSKA Sofia appeared to finally be returning to relative calm in 2020-21. For the first time in a decade, Bulgaria’s most successful club had qualified for the Europa League group stage, and had a serious chance of preventing Ludogorets from winning a tenth league title in a row.
Then, a football bomb exploded. Owners Grisha Ganchev and Julian Indzhov announced they would step down after one of the club’s fan groups, “the Offenders”, criticised the club’s transfer policy following the departure of Gambia striker Ali Sowe.
The fans’ concern was understandable: not only was Sowe the club’s top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions, including five in Europe, his league tally of eight accounted for a third of the team’s entire output. When he departed in February, only one other player had scored more than once in the league. Russian side Rostov paid €500,000 to sign the forward on loan until the end of the season, with the option to make it permanent for €3 million.
In a special press conference, CSKA’s executive director Plamen Markov announced that their decision is final and that Ganchev will withdraw from football forever. He added: “I am not sure that Ganchev will change his mind. He is fighting on different fronts and is sick and tired of all these problems.”
These “problems” go well beyond fans’ disgruntlement, and nobody believes that the Offenders’ statement is the real reason for Ganchev’s exit. One of his companies, Litex Motors, went bankrupt in 2017, though it is not clear why. The stadium is an issue too, which is currently owned by the Ministry of Sport. Plans to renovate and share ownership were discussed, but went cold.
The two owners, with 77 per cent of the club’s shares, insist there will be no financial problems. “I will leave the club with €5-6m, instead of €40m of debt,” declared Ganchev. According to commercial law, they must offer their shares to the third co-owner, Bulgaria legend Hristo Stoichkov, who currently owns 20 per cent, although his intentions are unclear.
The pair have not been allowed to leave quietly. Former players Dimitar Penev (national coach when Bulgaria reached the semi-finals at USA ’94), Dimitar Yakimov, Petar Zhekov and Asparuh Nikodimov all sent a letter to Ganchev asking him to continue at the club. A small group of fans were invited for a meeting in his office too, although the contents of that remained private.
As it stands, the future of the club is uncertain. Some have called for a union with CSKA 1948, formed in 2016 after the club’s expulsion from the top tier. They spent a year in the third division – winning the title and the Bulgarian Cup, the first third-tier side to do so – before Ganchev purchased Litex Lovech’s professional licence, allowing the club to bypass the second division and return to the top flight. Several club members disagreed, however, and consequently split away to form the new outfit. Having begun in amateur football, they won the second division last season to reach the top flight.
In amongst all this, the opinion of technical director Alan Pardew is unclear. The ex-Newcastle and West Ham boss arrived in Bulgaria last year.
Since buying the club, Ganchev has threatened to leave three times, so nothing is certain. One potential outcome is that his son, Danail, along with Indzhov’s son, Deyan, take on the shares while their fathers pull the strings in the background. Whatever happens, it is yet another crisis for CSKA, and a sense of déjà vu for their fans.