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Very few Bulgarians play in elite football leagues

published on 5/9/22 1:28 PM

Petko Hristov

Photo: BGNES - archive

In the report of CIES Football Observatory in Switzerland, Bulgaria ranks an unimpressive 62nd place out of 80 countries, as the number of Bulgarian football players in foreign clubs has decreased by 9 places in the last 5 years, a drop of 15%.

Bulgaria currently has only 50 players playing in foreign leagues and almost no Bulgarians in the elite Top 5 leagues, according to the CIES Observatory's weekly report. At the moment, only defender Petko Hristov plays in the Italian elite Spetzia, while Ilia Gruev Jr. is about to return with Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.

The leading country in terms of player exports is Brazil with 1,219 players, followed by France with 978 players and Argentina with 815 players abroad.

Last in the ranking are Peru, Zambia and Uzbekistan.

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Radio Bulgaria Sport Bulgaria CIES Football Observatory football ranking