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Todor Batkov (pictured), owner of the popular Sofia team Levski FC, has been described in the diplomatic cables, revealed by WikiLeaks, as “the proxy and front-man for the infamous Russian-Israeli businessman Michael Cherney, aka "Mikhail Chorny." Photo
By Global Times, China's English-language newspaper
Some of Bulgaria's most popular clubs have ties with mafia bosses, who use them to launder money, according to a US diplomatic document revealed by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
"Bulgarian clubs are widely believed to be directly or indirectly controlled by organized crime figures who use their teams as a way to legitimize themselves, launder money, or make a fast buck," a January 2010 cable from the US embassy in Sofia to Washington noted.
Details of the cable, which handed Bulgarian soccer "a red card for corruption," were published Monday on the website of the Spanish daily El Pais.
"Nearly all of the teams are owned or have been connected to organized crime figures," the cable's author, current US deputy chief of mission to Sofia Susan Sutton, wrote.
A "sampling of the most well-known connections" compiled by Sutton included some of Bulgaria's most popular first league clubs, such as Levski Sofia, CSKA Sofia, Litex Lovech, Slavia Sofia, Cherno more Varna, Lokomotiv Sofia and Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
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The prospect of US President Donald Trump's moving closer to Russia has scrambled the strategy of "balancing East and West" used for decades by countries like Bulgaria, the New York Times says.
Bulgarians have benefited a lot from their EU membership, with incomes rising and Brussels overseeing politicians, according to a New York Times piece.
German businesses prefer to trade with Bulgaria rather than invest into the country, an article on DW Bulgaria's website argues.
The truth about Bulgaria and Moldova's presidential elections is "more complicated" and should not be reduced to pro-Russian candidates winning, the Economist says.
President-elect Rumen Radev "struck a chord with voters by attacking the status quo and stressing issues like national security and migration," AFP agency writes after the presidential vote on Sunday.
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