Bulgaria proposes reforms to sports federation registration laws

Bulgarian Sports Minister Encho Keryazov has announced two major proposed amendments to the Physical Education and Sports Act aimed at reforming the management of sports organizations.

One key change would prohibit individuals who participated in the management of a sports federation that declared bankruptcy from registering new sports federations. This measure follows recent issues, such as the Weightlifting Federation declaring bankruptcy for the third time. The goal is to prevent individuals from repeatedly creating new entities to bypass previous failures.

The second amendment seeks to grant the Ministry of Youth and Sports greater authority to revoke the rights of sports clubs. Currently, such decisions are made solely by a club's own management board, which Keryazov noted can lead to the existence of ‘hollow clubs’ that fail to support athletes.

Keryazov also expressed frustration with systemic mismanagement, specifically citing the Septemvri sports complex in Sofia. He noted that tenants at the facility have reportedly failed to pay rent to the Ministry for over ten years, highlighting deep-seated administrative issues within the current system.