Todor Kostadinov Batkov ( Bulgarian: Тодор Костадинов Батков) (born 17 October 1958 in

Smolyan Smolyan ( bg, Смолян) is a town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the homonymous Smolyan Province. The town is built along the valley of Cherna ("Black") ...

) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

n businessman and lawyer who was president of the Bulgarian football club

PFC Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

until late June 2015.

Biography

Since June 1990, Batkov has been a managing partner of the Batkov, Stoev, Botev and Co. company of lawyers. He is a member of the College of Barristers, the International Lawyer's League and the Supervising Council of

Mobiltel A1 Bulgaria (previously known as Mtel or Mobiltel) is a telecommunications company in Bulgaria ownedy by A1 Telekom Austria Group. History A1 Bulgaria was founded in March 1994 but was not launched commercially until September 1995 (as ''Citron'' ...

. Batkov is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Standard News Ltd, publisher of the '' Standart'' newspaper. Batkov was also formerly a legal adviser at the Bulgarian Council of Ministers. Batkov has been the president of

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

since the summer of 1998, becoming the de facto owner as the majority shareholder of the team in March 2004 when he officially replaced

Michael Cherney Michael Cherney ( he, מיכאל צ'רנוי, russian: Михаил Чёрный, also Mikhail Chernoy, Mikhail Semenovitch Chorny or Mikhail Chernoi; born 16 January 1952) is an Uzbek-born Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist. He is known for h ...

in that capacity. Batkov stepped down on 24 June 2015, with three businessmen (Ivo Tonev, Aleksandar Angelov and Nikolay Iliev) obtaining his shares in the team. He remains the longest serving president of Levski Sofia in the club's history. On 30 March 2006, Batkov caused controversy when in the post-match interview following

's 1–3 home defeat against

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

side

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

, he said that English referee Mike Riley was a "British homosexual hobroke the game!" ( Bulgarian: "Този британски педераст развали мача!"), referring to the red card Riley gave to Levski midfielder Cédric Bardon. Batkov was subsequently fined 5000 Swiss francs and banned from attending the next 2 Levski games in any

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

tournaments. In August 2008, some of his remarks in relation to the identity of the

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarus ...

football team as well as the country of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

attracted criticism among the press and a number of politicians in the former Soviet state. On 17 October 2008, Batkov was awarded the

Order of Stara Planina Orders, decorations and medals of Bulgaria are regulated by the law on the Orders and Medals of the Republic of Bulgaria of 29 May 2003. The National Military History Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia currently has over 150 Bulgarian Orders in the col ...

(1st class) by then

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Georgi Parvanov Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov ( bg, Георги Седефчов Първанов, ) (born 28 June 1957) is a Bulgarian historian and politician who was President of Bulgaria from 2002 to 2012. He was elected after defeating incumbent Petar Stoy ...

for his contributions to the preservation of Bulgarian cultural heritage and the enhancement of the reputation of Bulgarian sport. He is married to Zdravka. They have two daughters and a son.

References

1958 births 20th-century Bulgarian lawyers Living people People from Smolyan 21st-century Bulgarian lawyers {{Bulgaria-footy-bio-stub