Five more held over racist abuse at England match in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria: Five more Bulgarian football fans were detained for taking part in racist abuse at a Euro 2020 qualifier against England that sparked a storm of protest, the interior ministry announced Friday.

Monkey chants and apparent Nazi salutes during Monday’s match in Sofia overshadowed England’s 6-0 win, sparking indignation in the football world and leading to the resignation of Bulgaria’s football chief.

Police have now identified 16 people suspected of being involved in the racist abuse, the minsitry said.

“Five more men implicated in the abusive actions were detained this morning... Police continues work to track down five more to detain them,” the ministry said. A Bulgarian teenager was already indicted Wednesday for “grave hooliganism”, risking a jail sentence of up to five years.