“They took away our licence unfairly,” CSKA football club president Alexander Tomov told Bulgarian National Television. In June 2008, the Bulgarian Football Union denied CSKA a licence to play in Bulgaria's top division, called Group A, because of accumulated debts.

CSKA's goals remained the same – Bulgaria’s super cup and the championship, Tomov said.

“The club’s owner [Kremikovtzi owner Pramod Mittal] is leaving Bulgaria and this will leave the club in a very difficult situation. There is a very powerful attack against the club.”

“The criteria applied towards CSKA were very different from those applied towards other clubs,” Tomov said. “In every club in Bulgaria, there are most probably irregularities, but they took away the licence only of CSKA, of the champion.”

The search for economic information and influence was the reason for the kidnapping of former Litex football club president Angel Bonchev, kidnapping analyst Dimitar Koutsatov said in the morning show of Nova Television.

According to Bonchev, the actions of the kidnappers were military-like, very organised.

National Association of Milk Producers chair Andriyan Tsakonski commented to private broadcaster bTV on the ongoing farmers’ protests. With the small subsidy that they are supposed to get, he said with bitter irony, but have not received since February, they are still supposed to be competitive on the European market.

“Almost none of our demands had been met.”

The protests will continue on August 1. The farmers will demand National Veterinary Service head Zheko Baichev be dismissed, that the 0.2-leva subsidies for the whole year be paid and that the promised loans with three per cent interest that had been promised to them by the state be issued, Tsakonski said.