Club owner invades the pitch to pick between wannabe-penalty takers - and gets it horribly wrong
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 21.05.22. | 23:20
Mad scenes in Eastern Europe involving a Gambian globetrotter
Many teams got relegated this weekend, but probably not one has such a mad day as Bulgarian club Tsarsko Selo. Two players of the capital city Sofia-based club had a big fight about who would take a penalty that would win them the game. The club owner entered the pitch to determine who should take the spot-kick. He picked poorly and ended the day in relegation.
What a mental day it's been!
Tsarsko Selo (the name translates to Emperor's Village) only had slender chances of surviving in the top flight. They needed to beat Lokomotiv Sofia at home and hope that Botev Vratsa wouldn't win away at Pirin Blagoevgrad. With the score tied at 1-1, the referee pointed to the spot in injury time and gave the home team an opportunity to bow out of the competition with a win - Botev Vratsa were winning comfortably.
Gambian forward Yussuf Yaffa, whose career highlight so far has been an unsuccessful trial at AC Milan, picked up the ball to take the penalty. Captain Martin Kavdanski didn't like that and the pair got into a heated argument to the disbelief of their teammates and the crowd. Club owner Stoyne Manolov was forced to settle the dispute with a hands-on approach. He rushed onto the pitch and told the Gambian that the club captain should take the kick. The owner even grabbed Yaffa by the neck to ensure his message was well-received. Yaffa didn't take the decision professionally and walked off the pitch - taking the time to sarcastically applaud Kavdanski's missed penalty.
INSANE scenes in the last round of the Bulgarian league! Relegation candidates Tsarsko selo got a last-minute penalty, then the club owner entered the pitch because he didn’t want a particular player to take the pen! In the end another player took it, missed it, the team is out! pic.twitter.com/rl356Lx79u
— Metodi_Shumanov (@shumanskoo) May 21, 2022
The curious thing is that in the beginning of 2016 Jaffa was tried by Milan. Gazzetta Dello Sport reported that the Italian club was starting a lawsuit against the Gambian because the player had stated that he was 19 years old when he was in fact 28. At that time the Gambian played for the German second division Duisburg and came to Milan in 2009 seeking political asylum. We don't know what will happen with Tsarsko Selo, but one thing is a given - Yaffa won't play for them again!
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