Balgarianovinite.com The sport of weightlifting in Bulgaria is said to be under a serious threat, according to members of the Management Board of the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation, who announced at a news conference on Monday that they are preparing a protest. The demonstration is scheduled for Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
The board members said that there is a real danger that the federation could lose its licence. Such a development would prevent Bulgarian athletes from competing at European and World Championships and would effectively turn national team lifters into free agents, allowing them to represent other countries.
According to the board, there are two possible ways out of the current deadlock: either federation President Stefan Botev should resign, or coach Plamen Bratoychev should withdraw his appeal against the election of Asen Zlatev as federation President at the General Assembly held at end-2025.
Zlatev was quoted as saying that the immediate problems were the failure to approve the federation’s financial report and the ongoing appeal, which could drag on indefinitely. He warned that European and World Championships were approaching and that, unless the appeal was withdrawn, the consequences would be severe. In his view, the federation’s work would become almost impossible, state funding from the Ministry of Youth and Sports would be blocked, and alternative sources of financing could not be secured. He added that the federation already had substantial debts and that creating a new federation would only lead to even worse conditions over the next two or three years. Zlatev said he hoped for reason and responsibility from his colleagues and stressed that the issue was not a personal conflict between himself and Botev.
He further explained that, after the last Management Board meeting, he and Botev had held a long discussion and had parted calmly and without hostility. Zlatev emphasized that the situation should not be interpreted as a personal power struggle and added that his primary goal was not to be president of the federation, even though he currently held that position.
Former world champion Zlatan Vanev also commented that an extraordinary assembly had been convened in May to limit the powers of the federation’s presidents in order to curb unlawful spending. He explained that the board was meant to act as a controlling body but that this was not happening in practice. Vanev argued that, if the sport’s interests were to be protected, the ongoing court disputes had to be brought to an end, warning that otherwise there was a real risk that weightlifting in Bulgaria could be effectively shut down. Federation Dispute Puts Bulgaria’s Weightlifting Future at Risk 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-02 12:36:51 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law