Parents of boys with Nazi symbols at Bulgarian football match identified – police

The parents of the two boys photographed at Bulgarian Cup football finals, shirtless, with one wearing a swastika while the other gave a Hitler salute, have been identified, Interior Ministry chief secretary Mladen Marinov said on May 14.

The photographs, taken on May 9 at the match between Levski Sofia and Slavia PFC, played at Vassil Levski national stadium in Bulgaria’s capital city, caused widespread condemnation.

Marinov told local media that the “necessary measures had been taken”.

He said that the police were working together with the State Agency for Child Protection. Marinov did not say whether the boys’ parents would incur any sanctions or what these would be.

Apart from the swastika and the Hitler salute, the inscriptions on the bodies of the boys, who both appear to be younger than 10, read “Levski hooligan”, ACAB (“All Cops Are Bastards”), and SW 1999 (the most extremist faction among Levski’s “Sofia West” ultras).

The Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom” strongly condemned the incident. It has referred the matter to the National Co-ordinator against Anti-Semitism, Deputy Minister Georg Georgiev.

The World Jewish Congress has strongly condemned the “disturbing and provocative” photographs.