The 2010/11 football season in Bulgaria is only in its infancy, with just three rounds played, but already the inevitable scandals loom over the local championship and some clubs in particular. It is reminiscent of a year ago, as one of Bulgaria's biggest clubs, CSKA Sofia, is again caught up in a web of altercations, debts and other problems, both on and off the pitch.

The season could hardly have had a worse start for the Reds. After losing 1-0 at home to arch-enemy Levski Sofia in the first round of the Bulgarian league, CSKA was handed a further 2-1 home defeat in the following round at the hands of Chernomorets Bourgas. CSKA's third outing of the season, against Vidima Rakovski, was a 2-2 draw, and now the Reds have only one point out of a possible nine, and is in 13th place, six points behind league leaders Lokomotiv Plovdiv, reigning champions Litex Lovech and Chernomorets (all at the top with seven points apiece) and arch-rivals Levski Sofia in fourth with six points.

The disastrous start on the pitch naturally spelt the end of Pavel Dochev's tenure as head coach on August 16. More controversy ensued, as he said that he had resigned, rather than having been fired, and said that he had been boycotted by some of his players, while other reports insisted that he was sacked. Regardless, he is out, and has been replaced with Macedonian Giore Ivanovski.

But the glitches for the Reds are just beginning. If the performance on the pitch (or lack of it) was not enough, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) disciplinary commission threatened to deduct points because of current outstanding debts to agent Mircho Dimitrov, who facilitated the transfer of players Valentin Iliev and Florentin Petre to Terek Grozny.

The club offloaded them in 2008, but Dimitrov says that he has not received the full amount of his share. Hence, the disciplinary commission said that CSKA had 14 days in which to pay up, in addition to a 1000 leva fine or face the consequences - losing points – and currently, they do not have many to lose.

To worsen matters, the BFU arbitration commission decided last week that the Reds must wire 140 000 leva to Minyor Pernik FC for the transfer of Roumen Trifonov, after Minyor successfully sued CSKA. The court ruled that CSKA must pay the sum, and all court expenses, by August 30. If the total is not paid by then, CSKA will face further disciplinary sanction from the BFU disciplinary commission. Trifonov was signed in winter 2009 during the time of Romanian coach Ioan Andone

And if that was not enough, ahead of CSKA's Uefa Europa League first leg play-off clash with Welsh champions TNS on August 19, its previous opponent in this tournament, Northern Irish side Cliftonville, claimed that CSKA had fielded itself against them with an illegitimate player, which could have Cliftonville reinstated back into European football at their expense. The eligibility scandal, involving striker Spas Delev, has been reported to European football authorities, the BBC said on August 17. (By the time that The Sofia Echo went to print, no decision had been taken on the matter).

Delev played in the 2-1 win over the Irish League side on August 5, three days after his club contract expired. In the first leg in Sofia, the Bulgarians beat them 3–0 in Sofia, setting themselves up for a relatively relaxed second leg trip to Belfast. But according to Uefa regulations, any protests over player eligibility must be made within 24 hours of the game. Uefa are investigating the matter and also alleged paperwork discrepancies in Delev's move from Pirin FC to Sofia.

Pirin is re-evaluating the transfer of Delev. Nikolai Galchev, owner of construction company Galchev Holdings and the largest shareholder in the club, alleged that the contracts of Delev with CSKA and Dragi Kotsev with Lokomotiv Plovdiv were forged, according to Bulgarian Dnevnik daily. This means that if Pirin and CSKA fail to reach an agreement, Delev's contract with the Reds will be terminated. And all the same, CSKA Sofia appear to be sinking ever deeper in a quagmire of debts, scandals, and poor performance, at the expense of its loyal supporters.