Levski Sofia president Todor Batkov has threatened to pull the club out of the domestic football league next season, if the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) fails to secure the services of foreign referees, Dnevnik daily said on November 28 2009.

This latest outburst of dissatisfaction came after the Levski vs Litex encounter at Gerena stadium which was marred by constant controversial referee decisions as Nikolai Yordanov issued numerous yellow and three red cards, two for the Blues and one for the visitors.

"I want foreign referees. I have no preferences about where they come from or what their names are, but they must be foreigners," Batkov was quoted as saying by Sportal.bg

Immediately after the midweek clash, Levski board chairperson Konstantin Bajdekov called for an emergency summit with the BFU and the refereeing commission. Bajdekov and interim Levski coach Georgi Ivanov demanded the resignation of the commission’s chairperson, Dimo Momirov.

Meanwhile, Batkov is adamant that there is a plot against his club in the Bulgarian football establishment. He said that it would be impossible for his club to successfully defend the title that they won last year because there was an "organised scheme in high places to prevent this happening".

Batkov retracted an earlier statement demanding the resignation of BFU president Borislav Mihailov.

"I did not say that I called for a new congress with the aim to replace Mihailov. But this is the appropriate time and place to call upon Mihailov to get a grip on himself and improve the situation in Bulgarian football," Batkov told Dnevnik.

"Alternatively, if he knows he is incompetent for the job, he ought to come forward and admit publicly that he is not good enough."

On November 25, Levski and Litex produced a rarely-seen football spectacle on Bulgarian grounds, in what was arguably the best match since the beginning of the season. The entertaining clash saw bitter confrontations on the pitch, as well as anger and violence on the terraces. Referee Yordanov called dozens of fouls and issued a shower of yellow and red cards.

The Blues finished the match with nine men, as both Vesselin Minev and Enyo Krustovchev were given their marching orders for two professional fouls each, while Litex lost Radostin Kishishev to a straight red card.

In the ensuing chaos on the pitch and with tension rising, Levski interim head coach Ivanov was sent off to the stands after getting into a shouting match with the referee.

In the latest, 14th round of the Bulgarian football league, the champions maintained their recent good form by beating Montana 3-1 on November 28, while arch-rivals CSKA Sofia were held to a 0-0 draw by Cherno More. Currently, Levski are fourth in the league with 26 points from 14 matches, just four points adrift from CSKA with 30. Current league leaders Litex Lovech have 32 points and are due to play Beroe on November 29 at 2.30pm