[REVISION HISTORY]
Bulgarian football Rule 4 compliance dispute
Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.
What changed
2026-07-27 08:48 UTC → 2026-07-30 11:19 UTC ·
added
removed
In mid‑July 2026 the Bulgarian Football Union (BFS) published the clubs’ declarations on the mandatory minimum‑Bulgarian‑player rule (Rule 4) for the 2026‑27 efbet Liga season. Four clubs – Levski, Ludogorets, CSKA and CSKA 1948 – announced said they would not comply and would instead pay the €300,000 administrative fee, each planning to field eight non‑EU players, while Botev Plovdiv disclosed six. A week later the BFS Executive Committee waived the €199,467 compensation fee that Ludogorets Razgrad would have owed for failing to field at least four Bulgarian players in 2025‑26. The exemption was justified by 2025‑26, arguing that the club’s progress progression to the UEFA Conference League knockout stage, which increased solidarity payments for elite Bulgarian clubs and rendered Ludogorets ineligible stage removed its eligibility for those funds. solidarity payments, making an additional charge a double‑penalty. The outstanding amount was reassigned to four other top‑division clubs (Levski, CSKA 1948, CSKA Sofia and Beroe) and redistributed among the remaining elite teams at roughly €72,533 each. teams. On 27 July, July BFS president Georgi Ivanov defended the rule and the compensation approach, stressing rule, emphasizing that the policy it aims to give more increase playing time to for local talent and to keep financial resources within Bulgarian football. Two days later the system for federation quietly introduced further contentious measures: it confirmed the development waiver of Bulgarian football. He clarified Ludogorets’ compensation fee and replaced the head of the Referees Committee, Stanislav Todorov, with Mateo Trefoloni without public explanation. Critics described these steps as a back‑room arrangement that requiring an additional payment from favours Ludogorets, which already lost UEFA solidarity funds by qualifying for European competition, would amount to a double charge. raising concerns over governance and transparency within the BFS. The BFS federation noted that future rule adjustments could alter how such payments are allocated.
Versions
- 2026-07-30 11:19 UTC Bulgarian football Rule 4 compliance dispute
- 2026-07-27 08:48 UTC Bulgarian football Rule 4 compliance dispute
Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.