Balgarianovinite.com A fourth court panel has upheld the legitimacy of the March 19, 2025 election of Vesela Lecheva as President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC) and of the BOC Executive Bureau.
By judgment dated March 9, 2026, the Sofia City Court (SCC) dismissed as unfounded the actions brought by Zhivko Vangelov challenging the resolutions of the BOC General Assembly by which Lecheva and a new Executive Bureau and Audit Council of the Committee were elected.
The plaintiff claimed that the assembly was convened and held in violation of the law and the BOC Statute because not all members were notified of it by post or email, the 20-day time limit for nominating a candidate for president was not complied with, representatives lacking a valid entitlement to represent their organizations attended the assembly, irregularities were committed upon delegates’ legitimation, and the secret ballot was incorrectly conducted by putting the lineup of the collective bodies to the vote en bloc.
In its reasons, the Court argued that the notice of general assembly was duly published in the Commercial Register and Register of Non-Profit Legal Persons and was posted on the notice board. As 83 out of a total of 86 members were present, the requisite quorum and majorities were available. The delegates proved their representation entitlement by producing due powers or attorney or governing bodies’ decisions, and the alleged omissions did not result in a distortion of the election result.
The voting en bloc does not constitute a violation because the Statute does not require the members of the Executive Bureau and the Audit Board to be put to the vote separately, the Court argued, adding that no nominations were put forward by any other members, including the plaintiff.
The Sofia City Court concluded that the defects alleged in the statement of action resulting in legal non-conformity of the BOC General Assembly resolutions at issue were not proven and, therefore, the actions brought seeking an invalidation of these resolutions merit to be dismissed as unfounded.
Eight actions have been brought by federations and individual members against the election of Lecheva and the Executive Bureau. So far, four of these claims have been dismissed by court as unfounded: the ones filed by the Bulgarian Confederation of Kickboxing and Muay Thai, the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation, the Bulgarian Badminton Federation, and Zhivko Vangelov. One action, initiated by Belcho Goranov, Plamen Krastev, Atanas Tarev and Hristo Markov, has been granted, and the court has annulled Lecheva’s election. Three actions in this subject-matter remain pending.
The newly elected BOC leadership, headed by Lecheva, has not yet been registered in the Commercial Register due to ongoing court appeals. On May 17, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it had provisionally recognized the results of the BOC Elective General Assembly on March 19, 2025, confirming that Lecheva and her team are the only individuals authorized to represent the BOC to the IOC, within the Olympic Movement, and at all IOC-recognized events and Games. Fourth Court Panel Upholds Lecheva’s Election as Bulgarian Olympic Committee President 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-10 11:21:26 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