Bulgarian ref dropped after blunder

Bulgarian referee Stanislav Todorov has been dropped from this weekend’s round of matches after his blunder cost Lokomotiv Plovdiv victory in their league opener at Ludogorets on Saturday.

UEFA referee Todorov, 34, a regular for European fixtures, wrongly gave offside when Lokomotiv captain Zdravko Lazarov headed into net midway through the second half.     

Lazarov’s team mate Basile de Carvalho was in an offside position but not interfering with play.     

    “The referee made a mistake that influenced the final score,” Bulgarian Football Union refereeing commission chief Kostadin Kostadinov told reporters. “There’s a rule in the refereeing that the official should wait and see.     

    “If that was the case, it should’ve been a goal for Lokomotiv,” he added.     

    Lokomotiv coach Dragan Kanatlaroski was furious Todorov had denied his team the win.     

    “It was a wrong decision,” said Kanatlaroski. “It’s normal to be angry as it was a ‘clear’ goal and we should’ve won the three points.”     

     Bulgarian refereeing has come in for criticism in recent years, with the BFU banning top officials Nikolay Yordanov and Angel Angelov last season.