Mamelodi Sundowns Appoint Hristo Stoichkov As Coach

The Brazilians have been without a head coach since Henri Michel’s departure about two months ago, with Ted Dumitru having stepped in in a caretaker capacity towards the end of the season.

However, their search is now over, with former Barcelona midfield maestro Stoichkov having signed a two-year deal. The 43-year-old coached his country’s national team between 2004 and 2007.

Stoichkov has been in the news lately, having been accused of fixing games in Romania. The storm broke last week when the president of FC Timishoara, Marian Iancu, accused him over tampering with the outcome of the game.

According to the Dnevnik daily newspaper, Iancu stated that Stoichkov had ordered the Bulgarian referee Anton Genov to rule in favour of the Unirea Urziceni against Steaua Bucharest.

Genov was invited to referee the match, which had a great importance for the champions’ title in the Romanian championship. The game ended in a draw, which helped Unirea to be crowned champions.

“People close to me informed me that Stoichkov ordered Genov to help Unirea. What can I expect from this game? I am an experienced businessman and they cannot trick me so easily. I know that the referee is run from a distance,” Iancu said.

Iancu also claimed that the famous Romanian player, Gheorghe Hagi, was also involved as he is a good friend of Stoichkov. Hagi is very close to the coach of FC Uniria, Daniel Vasile Petrescu. This is why Iancu accused Stoichkov of fixing the game.

“As far as I know, Stoichkov is Genov’s best man and godfather of his child,” Iancu said.