The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) will vote on officially adopting a ban on betting for all football staff at its next plenary meeting.

Taking place on 20 March in Sofia, the meeting will see BFU General Director, Andrey Petrov, and Georgi Ivanov, BFU President, propose an update to the 2018 framework.

The updated text reads: “It is forbidden for all football players, coaches, and staff in the Bulgarian football ecosystem to organise or participate in any kind of wagering or gambling related to football.”

The ban has been active for some time now, however, as part of the Disciplinary Regulations of the BFU. If voted for, it will now become part of the Statues of the Bulgarian Football Union.

Another significant change that directly impacts the gambling sector is the expansion of rights that the BFU holds over Bulgarian football. Amendments will see the governing body take over exclusivity over every commercial, media, communication, marketing and digital rights of all events sanctioned by the BFU.

This also includes a monopoly on data and betting rights, meaning all operators wanting to provide wagering options on Bulgarian football events must be authorised by a sub-licence for live data feeds and pay the according fees. The same goes for data providers like Sportadar and Genius Sports.

Georgi Ivanov was elected President of the BFU back in 2024, after his predecessor, Borislav Mihaylov, held the role for more than a decade. Towards the end of his last mandate, Mihaylov faced severe criticism from football fans who were unhappy about the state of the sport in his hands.

The former President was also frequently subjected to corruption allegations, spanning from conflicts of interest to ties with illegal match-fixing rings in Asia. Mihaylov has consistently maintained his innocence, with no official prosecutions having been made to date.