OFK Tryavna fell victim to the war for power in the Bulgarian Football Union, led by Borislav Mihaylov. The troubles began in November 2021, when the elections for the president of the Bulgarian Football Union ended up with a narrow win by Borislav Mihaylov, against his main competitor, Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov soon contested the result of the elections, and in June 2022 a court decided that indeed the regulations have not been properly and entirely respected, so new elections will have to take place.
However, in the meantime, Dimitar Berbatov summoned his supporters on 18 March 2022, to held ”elections”, which were nevertheless not recognized. All the 80 clubs that participated in the congress called by Dimitar Berbatov received the same penalty: they were expelled from the Bulgarian Football Union and from all competitions. OFK Tryavna was one of these clubs. Despite leading the classification in the Gabrovo Regional League, with good chances for promotion to the Bulgarian Third League, they were expelled. Boruna Tsareva Livada promoted to the Third League, and play in the North-West Group in the 2022-2023 season, which has just started.
It is now difficult to guess what will happen to the 80 clubs that have been expelled. If the court decision stands, it might mean that all decisions taken by Bulgarian Football Union after November 2021 are null and void, including this one. On the other hand, it would be undemocratic to cancel all the possible votes for Dimitar Berbatov, the main opposition candidate, by simply removing all the clubs supporting him. It would probably be wise for the Bulgarian Football Union to reinstate all the expelled clubs within their ranks, and to allow them to compete in the 2022-2023 season. Even so, some of these clubs might bring the issue in court and seek justice for the period of time in which they were wrongfully expelled and not allowed to continue playing in their competitions, for reasons not related to sports, but rather politics.
Hopefully, we will see all these clubs back into competitions as soon as possible. OFK Tryavna might play another season in the Gabrovo Regional League. Another solution may be that new clubs are formed, from the ashes of the clubs that were expelled. These new clubs would have nothing to do juridically speaking with the former clubs, and should be allowed to compete, but it will be yet another blow to the continuity of football clubs in Bulgaria.
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