Yuriy Galev, controversial president of Rilski Sportist football club and municipal councilor in the town of Samokov, who was brutally shot June 20, passed away Wednesday morning at Sofia's Pirogov hospital, where doctors were fighting for his life.

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The cause of death is an acute heart rhythm disturbance, doctors say. Galev was admitted to the hospital in critical condition with five gunshot wounds in the stomach and limbs and had two life-safing surgeries performed on him. Later Galev suffered mass heart attack. Monday doctors reported on an improvement in his condtion.

At the time of his death, Yuriy Galev was president of the Rilski Sportist football club from the town of Samokov near Sofia, and municipal councilor in that town from the nationalist party Ataka.

Galev is notorious in Samokov for a number of criminal acts. The latest one was in February when Galev and several of his associates beat two ski lift guards in the Borovets mountain resort near Samokov after the latter refused to let his son ride the lift for free.

In the wake of this incident, the local police arrested four of Galev's men for arson of an office of the Borosport firm, which operates the ski lift.

1995 was arrested after randomly shooting in the Rila hotel in Borovets. The same year Galev took part in shooting in nearby village of Beli Iskar and mass fighting at a disco in north-western town of Montana. Similar acts were committed in 1996 and 1999. Galev has been detained by the police on various charges, but later released.

February 2009 Galev survived unharmed a similar attempt on his life.

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