Police detain 40 over violence at Bulgarian Cup final

SOFIA – 16 May 2019: Police detained around 40 people for public order offences before and during Wednesday evening’s Bulgarian Cup final, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said that 19 were held when skirmishes broke out in downtown Sofia before the match, in which Lokomotiv Plovdiv beat bitter local rivals Botev 1-0 to claim their first trophy since winning the league in 2004.

The fixture has a long history of associated violence. The 2014 league match at Lokomotiv was abandoned in the first half due to crowd trouble and five years earlier a mass brawl involving players and coaching staff marred Botev’s 1-0 league win.