Banned Bulgarian referee uses false identity

A banned Bulgarian referee took charge of this week’s friendly between Werder Bremen and AZ Alkmaar under a false identity, state television BNT reported on Friday.



BNT said Luchezar Yonov used the name of fellow countryman and eligible referee Raicho Raichev for Wednesday’s game played in the Turkish resort of Belek.



“This story convinces us the decision we took last year was right,” Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) refereeing commission chairman Kostadin Kostadinov told state television.



Yonov and his assistants Petar Tarulov and Emil Mitev were among the referees who were suspended in 2011 for officiating at international matches in South America without informing the BFU.



“I’ll take all necessary measures to clear my name,” Raichev told the Bulgarian football referees association’s website (www.bgreferee.org). “What they did is so sneaky.”



Bundesliga club Werder came back from a goal down to beat their Dutch opponents 2-1.



“I read some reports and they said there was 10 minutes of added time, a controversial penalty and a free kick in the ninth minute of added time,” said Kostadinov.



The referees association has urged the BFU to inform European soccer’s governing body UEFA about the incident.