Club authorities have decided to end the "punishment" of nine players who were reportedly "sacked" two days ago by head coach Lyuboslav Penev, Dnevnik daily reports on November 4 2009.

The players will be reinstated in the first team after the League Europa clash with Basel on November 6. "We will return all of them, they were just temporarily ousted from the team, but I will have them back," said club president Dimitar Borissov.

The president told Bulgarian media that late on November 3 "he had a discussion with them all until 11pm and they had sincerely apologised for their conduct",  the report says.

Apparently this decision was taken without the knowledge of head coach Penev who had promised stiff reprisals against the players and their "irresponsible behaviour" which led to the leagee defeat against Litex on the weekend.

Penev said at the time that the rules are the same for everyone and, as such, must be applied equally.

"Discipline is essential. They can't just talk about money, money, money...They must conduct themselves in a professional manner, they are CSKA players after all. I will not make any compromises, even if they receive offers from other clubs," Penev said.

He had threatened to relegate the players to the reserve team and have them remain there until they "sorted out" their attitude.

On November 2 2009, Penev barred nine players from training with the first team following reports of inappropriate conduct the night before a key league match against Litex Lovech. CSKA were beaten 2-0 and a major reason for the fiasco, according to Penev, was that nine first-team players were seen partying late on the night before the match, breaking curfew.

The players are Ivan Karadjov, the starting goalkeeper for all but three league matches this season; defenders Kiril Kotev, Pavel Vidanov and Ivan Ivanov and midfielders Marquinhos, David Silva, Yordan Todorov, Todor Timonov and Svetoslav Petrov.