Allegations of match fixing and illegal betting in Bulgarian football erupted in the national media on Friday ahead of a trip to Sofia by UEFA President Michel Platini this weekend.
Fixed matches investigated in Bulgaria, the daily 7 Dni Sport announced on its front page, while the mass-circulation Trud daily titled a two-page report: Scandalous allegations of illegal betting.
This followed other investigations into match-fixing, broadcast earlier this week on Bulgarian television.
According to 7 Dni Sport, European football governing body UEFA had alerted Bulgaria s organised crime unit about possible match-fixing in a 2009 Bulgarian Cup game between second-division sides Marek Dupnitsa and Kaliakra Kavarna.
Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) chief Borislav Mihaylov denied the reports but said the issue would be on Platini s agenda Sunday in Sofia.
Some (clubs) support themselves financially in this way, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told bTV private television Friday when asked about the match-fixing claims.
However, he refused to say whether a probe was underway, noting that the ministry could only investigate concrete signals from the BFU and not allegations.
Both bTV and state-owned Bulgarian national television broadcast this week extensive programmes on illegal-betting and match-fixing schemes they claimed were widespread among Bulgarian second-division clubs.
The reports sparked an outburst of reactions, with some even claiming that parts of the interviews were faked.
