Nikolay Grigorov, the head coach of the Bulgarian men’s national team that competed at the CEV U18 European Championships, has accused the German team of throwing a game against the Czech Republic.
Had Germany, who was undefeated in the tournament up to that point, defeated the Czech Republic, Bulgaria would advance through to the final around along with the Germans (and Russia and Italy from the other pool).
But as it turned out, Germany lost that final game to the Czech Republic 3-1, giving the Czechs a full three points and thus, passing the Bulgarians in the standings. Germany would end up playing Czech Republic again in the final, beating them 3-0, while the Bulgarians were relegated to play for 5th place. They lost to Belarus, and ended up 6th.
Grigorov claims it was clear the Germans threw the game, saying they did not play anything like they had in their previous matches, and he believes the Czechs were in on it. He described it as though everyone watching knew what was going on, and while he did all he could to do something about it, it was ultimately out of his control.
Read the full quotes from Grigorov, in Russian, here. Full tournament results can be found here.
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