Bulgarian team apologizes after holding a minute's silence for former player who isn't dead

CNN

19-03-2025

A top-flight Bulgarian soccer team has apologized after it held a minute's silence before its recent match to mourn a former player who the club mistakenly believed had died.
Before Arda Kardzhali's game against Levski Sofia in Bulgaria's First League on Sunday, both sets of players lined up near the center of the field to honor Arda's former player, Petko Ganchev.
But before the game had finished, Arda published a statement on Facebook apologizing to Ganchev saying they had 'received wrong information about his death.'
'The management of PFC Arda would like to express a huge apology to the former Arda player Petko Ganchev and his relatives after the club received wrong information about his death,' the club wrote.
'We wish Petko Ganchev many more years of good health and to enjoy the success of Arda.'
Arda and Levski Sofia would go onto draw the game 1-1.
In the aftermath of the incident, Ganchev detailed to Bulgarian media how he found out about the mistake from his former team.
'I don't miss a chance to watch Arda matches on TV. Now against Levski, I was late about 10 minutes because I had some work,' Ganchev told Bulgarian news outlet Blitz. 'While I was driving home, my phone started ringing a lot. But I'm driving and don't dare to pick it up.
'I park in front of our house. I enter the yard and my wife welcomes me in tears. She says: 'Petko, Petko, on the television they announced that you had passed!' I couldn't understand what she was telling me and what had happened. She explained that they called her on the phone and told her what they heard was announced ahead of the match between Arda and Levski.
'To bury you alive is very stressful. Truthfully, the situation was not pleasant, but at the end of the day, we have to be positive. Here, yesterday, when I heard the horrible news, I poured myself a small brandy,' Ganchev said with a smile.