Bulgarian amateurs get shot at national champions
Monday, July 19, 2010
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Amateur teams in Bulgaria are vying for the honour of playing against the country's national champions as part of a competition recently launched by the Bulgarian Football Union.
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The Bulgarian Football Union (BFS), in partnership with leading beer brand Ariana, has launched an amateur football competition for the prize of taking on the national champions.
The first edition of the Amateurs Meet Professionals tournament kicked off in April with an invitation to all amateur teams to compete to take part in a special one-off match against the 2010 Bulgarian title winners, PFC Litex Lovech.
The competition, which concludes in July, aims to raise standards in the amateur game by offering this unique opportunity. Teams first competed on a regional basis, with ten heats held across ten cities on as many weekends. The ten winning teams from the regional competitions proceed to the national finals from which one team emerges to face the A League champions.
The BFS provides all referees and match delegates to ensure that games take place in optimum conditions. Bulgaria's national team manager, Stanimir Stoilov – a former professional player – and Krasimir Radkov, a famous actor and keen amateur footballer, are supporting the initiative as competition ambassadors.
