Botev need police convoy to keep them from angry fans

Bulgaria's Botev Plovdiv needed a convoy of police cars to escort them the 150km back from Sofia to escape angry supporters that chased them in their cars after a 2-1 defeat.

Most of the travelling Botev fans did not wait for the final whistle in their relegation-threatened team's loss to Slavia Sofia on Saturday and gathered outside the stadium to demand an explanation from the players for their poor display.

After some heated discussions with fans, the team finally boarded their bus but two players made insulting finger gestures at fans, sparking a crazy Hollywood-style highway chase.

Fans in about 30 cars pursued the bus while the police escort multiplied with the passing kilometres.

The bus was escorted all the way to Botev's stadium in Plovdiv, one of Bulgaria's largest cities 150km from Sofia, for fear that fans might attack the players. Police remained on guard there until late Saturday night.

Fans said they planned to boycott Botev's next home game. Botev, who recently appointed Atanas Marinov, formerly of Marsaxlokk, as their head coach, are 13th in the premier league standings with 17 points from 20 matches, above the relegation zone only on goal difference.