Kidnap ordeal of Litex chief Angel Bonchev
VILLA’S opponents in tonight’s UEFA Cup first-round tie have had their fair share of ups and downs – but when it comes to the boardroom there have been far worse situations to concern the directors than players’ wages and the manager’s transfer demands.
The club, only formed 13 years ago, have suffered a torrid year thus far which culminated in the resignation of their chairman at the end of July after he was involved in a bizarre and barbaric kidnap plot.
Lovech chairman Angel Bonchev was snatched by an armed gang from outside his house on May 22 in a move sanctioned by the Bulgarian mafia.
He was then drugged before being taken away and held captive for 50 days.
During that time, in a scene more reminiscent of a spy movie than anything people would asociate with football, he was tortured for days and had two fingers severed.
When his wife Kameliya went on July 31 along with Bulgarian interior ministery officers and police to hand over a ransom demand for her husband, she was also snatched.
Her captors eventually released her after 19 days. It is not known whether the ransom, rumoured to be in the region of hundreds of thousands of pounds, was handed over.
But if Litex’s problems seem severe they pale into comparison with the situation at another Bulgarian side, Lokomotiv Plovdiv who have had three football chairmen murdered in mafia assasinations in recent years.
With all their troubles now pushed aside, Litex are proving gracious hosts for the visit of Villa with the team enjoying the comforts of the region’s only five star hotel – the Presidium Palace.
Litex, under manager Stanimir Stoilov, sit in second place in the Bulgarian top flight and are unbeaten in five games and their biggest claim to fame is a mighty 8-0 victory over great rivals CSK Sofia in the 1998-9 season when, ironically, Villa midfielder Stiliyan Petrov played for the side.
They finished fourth in the league last season behind Sofia’s three teams and won the Bulgarian Cup Final 1-0.
The team’s star players include Brazilian midfielders Tom and Sandrinio. The team also boasts four Frenchmen including Burden, who used to play for Brighton.
