Sofia (AFP)

Bulgarian coach Krasimir Balakov, who has been in office for less than five months, resigned officially on Friday due to poor results from his team, whose last match against England was overshadowed by racist excesses.

The Bulgarian Football Federation (BFU) announced the departure of the 53-year-old coach after an executive committee met on Friday.

"I keep my fingers crossed for the next coach because the situation is not rosy at all," Balakov told reporters after the meeting.

The former Bulgarian midfielder had taken up his duties as national coach on 1 June with the aim of qualifying the team for the Euro-2020, recognizing that the task would be difficult.

After five defeats since June and a draw, Bulgaria is last in group A. It will play its final qualifier against the Czech Republic on 17 November.

The last match against England, lost Monday 6-0, was also clouded by the racist excesses of a group of Bulgarian supporters who aroused indignation in the world of football and among the British political class.

These incidents were "the last straw" that broke the camel's back, the Bulgarian coach said on Friday.

Krasimir Balakov apologized on Tuesday to the England team. The day before the match, he had however estimated in a press conference "that Bulgaria did not have such a big problem (of racism, ed)" compared to those met in England.

Balakov replaced his ex-team-mate Petar Hubchev in June since late 2016.

As an attacking midfielder, Balakov was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. He played in clubs for Sporting Portugal, VfB Stuttgart and Plauen before turning to coaching.

UEFA has opened a disciplinary procedure against Bulgaria and will convene its Disciplinary Committee on 28 October.

The Bulgarian police identified sixteen suspects of Monday's racist incidents and arrested eleven of them, including five on Friday.

© 2019 AFP