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Big changes for Bulgaria

Bulgarian Professional League general secretary Lyube Spasov has big plans for the future.

By Pawel Dimow & Stoyan Georgiev

When it was first formed in the summer of 1991, the Bulgarian Professional Football League (BPFL) did not coexist entirely peacefully with the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU).

Improved relations
Founded by the presidents of Bulgaria's two biggest clubs, PFC CSKA Sofia and PFC Levski Sofia, the two institutions were initially in conflict over areas of influence, but thanks on part to BPFL general secretary and former referee Lyube Spasov, relations between the two bodies are now much improved.

Working together
"There were some problems with BFU in the beginning but with time the BPFL and the BFU started to co-operate well," the 55-year-old told uefa.com. "Both institutions are now working harder to improve the quality of the game in Bulgaria. The BPFL does not work against the BFU but alongside it."

Increased responsibility
As time has gone by, the BPFL has taken increasing responsibility for the administration of domestic football in Bulgaria, and was responsible for the resurrection of both the Bulgarian Cup from 1997 and more recently the Bulgarian Super Cup, which was reintroduced last summer for the first time since 1985.

League control
Spasov, BPFL president Valentin Mihov's most important sub-alterns, hopes league administration will soon be in the BPFL's ambit too, saying: "In many European countries, the league authorities run their national leagues and we hope to receive this right soon."

Commercial acumen
With commercial matters paramount to the success of football in Bulgaria, Spasov and the BPFL are particularly keen to revitalise the domestic football scene which has been suffering from dwindling attendances, inadequate refereeing and an unacceptable standard of football.

Attendance problems
"The aim of the league is to bring the people back at the stadiums," said Spasov, who has been the league's general secretary since 1993. "In recent years there has been obvious reduction in match attendances. By improving the standard of the game, we are sure we will win the fans."

Radical proposals
Spasov welcomed the introduction of the UEFA club licensing system to anchor the concept of sensible financial management into the Bulgarian league but believes that, along with grassroots investment, two more radical changes may be pivotal if Bulgarian teams are to capture the public imagination.

Reduced division
The first is the reduction of the top division - the A PFG - from 16 teams to ten. "That means that only the best teams will play in our Premier League and the standard of football will become much higher," he said. "The teams will play each other four times with the top three winning European places.

Better spectacle
"The bottom two or even three teams should be relegated," he added. "This will make sure that almost all the teams in the league will have something to play for right up until the end of the season and the league will be much more interesting."

Winter shift
Spasov's other big idea is shifting the Bulgarian season from a winter season with two lengthy breaks to a summer one. "In the summer and winter we have two big breaks in the league fixtures and the clubs go to expensive training camps," he said. "Bulgarian football clubs are not very rich and this is very costly.

European factor
"Another argument in favour of this idea is the fact that our clubs start their European campaigns in the summer," he added. "At this time of the year we are usually on a break and our representatives in Europe are not fit. Therefore, playing in the spring-autumn format will improve their performances in Europe."