Bulgarian Prime Minister voted country’s footballer of the year

Category: Football

Publish Date: 12-05-2011 04:15 PM -0500

Bulgarian Prime Minster Boyko Borisov has been voted the country's footballer of the year by a wide margin. Though Borisov does play as a striker for third-division amateur club Vitosha Bistritsa, his victory was less about his footballing prowess and more about fans eager to protest the dire state of the game in Bulgaria.

With 44 percent of the final vote, Borisov beat out Dimitar Berbatov -- who had 24 percent of the vote despite asking not to be nominated again after winning for the seventh time last year -- and fifth division player/fellow protest nominee Vassil Loukaev, who came in third.

From the BBC:

Borisov said: "It's a protest vote.

"It is a signal that Bulgarian football needs reforms and a new policy. Organisers should annul the vote."

Thanks to abysmal performances in European competitions at both the club and international levels, voters were eager to shun the official nominees and write in their own joke picks. And, despite an investigation into voting irregularities by the competition's organizers, those jokes prevailed.

Credit to our friends at Tri Korni for the tip!

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