Alan Pardew leaves CSKA Sofia after Black players are racially abused | OneFootball

Alan Pardew has left his role as manager and technical director of Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia.

Sky Sports have confirmed that the former West Ham and Newcastle boss has walked away with immediate effect after a section of their fans targeted the team’s Black players with racist abuse.

CSKA Sofia lost the Bulgarian cup final last month to Levski Sofia, but despite the defeat Pardew had planned to stay on and take charge of the side next season.

But just a week after that loss, as CSKA arrived to play one of their last remaining league matches against Botev Plovdiv, where they were accosted by a number of angry fans.

Four Black players were subjected to racist abuse with bananas being thrown at them.

In a statement to the CSKA Sofia website, Pardew said: “The events before and after the match against Botev Plovdiv were unacceptable not only for me, but also for my assistant Alex Dyer and for my players. Our players decided to play out of loyalty towards the club.

“This small group of organised racist fans, who tried to sabotage the game, are not the fans I want to coach the team in front of. That’s definitely not the right way for CSKA because such club deserves a lot more.”

“I would want to express my gratitude towards all true CSKA fans for their support and passion. I also want to thank Grisha and Dani Ganchev [the club owners] for their efforts to bring the club forward despite all the challenges and circumstances.

“It’s been a privilege and honour to serve this great club. Unfortunately, my time here has come to an end.”

Pardew has now left the club along with his assistant Alex Dyer, the first Black man to hold a coaching position at the club.