The 60-year-old Englishman had earlier joined the club in November 2020 as technical director before becoming the side’s manager recently.
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Experienced coach Alan Pardew has resigned from his role as manager of the Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia after its fans racially abused their own players, as per reports. Pardew, who has experience in managing Premier League clubs such as West Ham United, Newcastle United, and Crystal Palace, among others, took over as manager of the first team with the Bulgarian side only in April. The 60-year-old Englishman had earlier joined the club in November 2020 as technical director before becoming the side’s manager recently.
It all started when CSKA Sofia lost to their rivals Levski Sofia in the Bulgaria cup final last month. The match which happened on 15th May saw Levski beat their bitter rivals 1-0. Pardew then held talks with the club’s owner and decided to take charge of the team next season. However, a week after the cup final, the CSKA team arrived to play Botev Plovdiv on the 19th of May. Outside the stadium, they were met by a good number of angry supporters.
During that incident, racist abuse was levelled at four black players and bananas were thrown at them, according to news.sky.com. After that incident, it was not even clear whether they would play the match but eventually, the game did go ahead. The 60-year-old Englishman has now decided to leave the Bulgarian club along with his assistant Alex Dyer, who is reportedly the first black man to hold a coaching role at the club.
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“The events before and after the match against Botev Plovdiv were unacceptable not only for me but also for my assistant Alex Dyer and for my players,” Pardew said in a statement to the CSKA Sofia website. “Our players decided to play out of loyalty towards the club. This small group of organised racist fans, who tried to sabotage the game, are not the fans I want to coach the team in front of. That’s definitely not the right way for CSKA because such club deserves a lot more.
“I would want to express my gratitude towards all true CSKA fans for their support and passion. I also want to thank Grisha and Dani Ganchev [the club owners] for their efforts to bring the club forward despite all the challenges and circumstances. It’s been a privilege and honour to serve this great club. Unfortunately, my time here has come to an end.”
