Three Bulgarian refs suspended over lack of fitness and mistakes

Three Bulgarian referees have been taken off this season's list of officials by the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) for lack of fitness and poor performances.

BFU referee commission's chairman Borislav Alexandrov said Angel Bekyarov, Stoyan Alexiev and Valeri Petrovksi would not officiate in matches this season, which kicks off on Saturday.

Alexandrov said Bekyarov and Alexiev failed fitness tests while Petrovski has been dropped for decisions he made during a second division match last season that influenced the overall standings.

Referee suspensions are not uncommon in the Balkan country and Alexandrov insisted the referee commission would be even stricter this season on referees who commit errors.

"We will not compromise this year," Alexandrov told reporters. "There'll be no one-match or several-matches ban for referees from now on.

"They'll be removed from the list for every single serious mistake."

Recently, several referees complained the referee commission failed to give them enough support and urged them to work under stressful conditions.