Shocking news: FFC 19 Bugaria cancelled due to yet unclear reasons

May 24th, 2015

Shocking news: FFC 19 Bugaria cancelled due to yet unclear reasons

FFC 19 that was to take place May 29 in Sofia, Bulgaria, is not going to take place. Shockingly, the Bulgarian Ministry of Sports decided to prohibit the event on the recommendation of the Bulgarian MMA Federation and its president Stanislav Nedkov. The reasons for that are still unclear.

Due to the cancellation of the event that was practically ready to take place, the FFC leaders will fly to Bulgaria this week to hold a press conference on this topic and try to find out more reasons why it came to this since this is the first time ever for the FFC event to be cancelled for the reasons stated by the Ministry.

This is the following statement issued by FFC President, Mt Orsat Zovko.

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We are extremely sorry to inform you that the FFC 19 that was to take place May 29 in Sofia, Bulgaria, has been unfortunately cancelled.

Final Fight Championship 19 event was banned by the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Bulgaria which issued a decision prohibiting the event as well as a recommendation to the City Hall of Sofia, its mayor and police to undertake all the necessary measures to prevent the event. The Ministry issued the aforementioned decision on the recommendation of the Bulgarian MMA Federation (BFMMA) and its president Stanislav Nedkov.

Final Fight Championship is a fighting sports promotion that worked in cooperation and in accordance with the rules of the relevant kickboxing and MMA federations from its very beginning. One of the basic postulates of our activities is neutrality and regularity that can be achieved only in this way. We had the same intent with out event in Sofia and we believed we had support from the Bulgarian MMA Federation and its estimated president and former UFC fighter Stanislav Nedkov. Despite the verbal support to the event organization and promise to attend the FFC as guests of honor, the Bulgarian MMA Federation and its president Mr Nedkov did exactly the opposite and banned the event only one week prior the date it was to be held.

The reasons for this are not yet known, nor were they officially communicated to us, so it is very difficult to speculate about them. Due to the fact that it was already a fait accompli and that there was only one week left to the event, Final Fight Championship had no other option but to cancel the event in Sofia, Bulgaria, despite having all the necessary permits from another competent Bulgarian kickboxing federation.

It should be noted that the Final Fight Championship invested tremendous effort and big amount of money in the organization and preparation of its first event in Bulgaria and that the cancellation of the event not only caused us considerable financial damage, but also tarnished the reputation of the brand. Bulgarian fighters that were to fight at the event were also deprived of the chance to show their skills and qualities at the event, while the fighting sports fans that impatiently waited for the FFC to come to their country were also disappointed by such a decision.

So far the FCC held 22 events in almost all the countries in the region and had never met such an obstacle. In the past three years, with its top level organization, the FFC has become the leading regional fighting sports promotion with events broadcasted live in more than fifty countries around the world. Having this in mind, FFC’s interest in a country with big fighting sports base such as Bulgaria was only a next logical step. We still hope that this cancellation of our event is only postponing the FFC event in Bulgaria and that the FFC leaders will find a common language with the Bulgarian MMA Federation.
 

We would like to apologize to the fighters who have trained hard to be well prepared for the FFC’s first event in Bulgaria as well as to fans who were eagerly awaiting the spectacle. We hope that the situation will develop in the interest of the sports we promote in the region as well as worldwide,


Orsat Zovko
FFC President