Newsfox
BY Yoanna Nestorova

Sofia - A club hoping to break Manchester United's Guinness World Record for the largest number of shareholders has been accused of ripping off its fans with an offer of thousands of fake "free' shares.

Top Bulgarian football team Levski last month announced it would give 250,000 free shares to fans. Manchester United holds the record for the most shareholders of any football club in the world with 42,000.

But Levski bosses have now come under fire after local media discovered that the fans would actually only get the shares if they either held season tickets or were prepared to buy a special club membership card costing 18 pounds.

Local paper ‘Meridian Match' said the club had come up with "an easy way to try to persuade fans to buy a season ticket".

But Levski official Todor Batkov said that "real" fans of the club would understand the move. He said: "Real fans must give and not take from the club."