Levski Sofia Threaten Boycott If Dondarini Is Referee
Bulgarian-outfit Levski Sofia have threatened to boycott their national cup game with Litex Lovech this Wednesday if Italian referee Paolo Dondarini is appointed for the game.
The Bulgarian league has been rocked by scandal recently, after several incidents of attempted bribery involving local referees in recent months. As a result, many club sides are demanding foreigners to officiate their matches.
A leak from the Bulgarian Football Federation revealed that Serie A’s Paolo Dondarini will take charge of this Wednesday’s national cup game between Levski Sofia and Litex Lovech.
Dondarini was the referee during Juventus’ hugely controversial 2-1 defeat to Reggina a few weeks ago. During that game he failed to award the Bianconeri two clear penalties, which angered the club so much that they wrote an open letter of complaint to the FIGC.
The appointment has infuriated Levski Sofia, who have threatened to boycott the game.
"Levski will not take part in the Bulgarian Cup quarter-final if the Italian referee Paolo Dondarini takes charge of the match," Levski wrote in an official letter to the Professional Football League (PFL).
The main sticking point seems to be Donadarini’s involvement in the 2006 Calciopoli crisis. The referee was originally implicated in the scandal, before he was later absolved of any wrongdoing.
"The appointment of this referee is abnormal and absurd," Levski owner Todor Batkov told reporters.
"We've reached an agreement with Litex to invite a foreign official but it's not acceptable for a referee, who was involved in such scandal, to officiate the game.”
Anthony Sormani
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or they just saw the last match he reffed us.