Borislav Biserov Mihaylov (; born 12 February 1963) is a Bulgarian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, and Former President of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

(2005 – 2019; 2021 – 2023). He is the longest-serving president of the Bulgarian Football Union, he has been at the head of the organization for 16 years. He is also a former member of the executive committee of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

. Mihaylov was captain of the Bulgaria national team during their major fourth-place run at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

(during the shoot-out against Mexico at the 1/8-final stage he saved two penalties), as well as during their participation in

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in ...

. He also played at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and is currently the second most-capped player of the Bulgaria national football team with 102 appearances, and the footballer with the most matches played (60) as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Club career

In 1995, Mihaylov joined English First Division team

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

for a then club record of £800,000, replacing the departed club favourite Shaka Hislop. However his time at the club was marked by a series of injuries, and his club career in England never took off.

Administrative roles

After retiring from active sports he started a career in football administration. He was vice-president of the

from 2001 until 2005, when he replaced Ivan Slavkov as president of the Bulgarian Football Union. On 22 March 2011, he was elected to the executive committee of

. On 15 October 2019, Mihaylov resigned as President of BFU after being asked to step down for ignoring racist behavior during games. On 28 April 2021, after a meeting with BFU, Mihaylov became the president again. On 27 November 2023, he resigned again as President of BFU after a lot of pressure from football fans and being asked by a lot of famous people and politicians from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, to step down from the position.

Personal life

In 1998, he married Maria Petrova, a former prominent

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, fle ...

. Borislav is the son of former goalkeeper Biser Mihaylov and the father of also former goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov, while his younger daughter Elinor is a tennis player.

Honours

Levski Sofia * Bulgarian Champion: 1984, 1985, 1988 * Bulgarian Cup winner: 1982, 1984, 1986 * Cup of the Soviet Army: 1984, 1987, 1988 Individual * Bulgarian Footballer of the Year: 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikhailov, Borislav 1963 births Living people Bulgarian men's footballers C.F. Os Belenenses players Reading F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Sofia 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1996 players 1998 FIFA World Cup players PFC Levski Sofia players Botev Plovdiv players PFC Slavia Sofia players FC Mulhouse players Bulgaria men's international footballers FIFA Men's Century Club FC Zürich players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Primeira Liga players Bulgarian expatriate men's footballers Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Bulgarian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Members of the UEFA Executive Committee English Football League players 20th-century Bulgarian sportsmen

Club career

Administrative roles

Personal life

Honours

See also

References