Hristo Stoichkov resigns as coach of CSKA Sofia after only a month in charge

Hristo Stoichkov: Quit after four weeks in charge

The former European Footballer of the Year said he had lost faith in the owners and their "endless lies".

"I'm fed up, I'm leaving," the former Barcelona striker said in a letter addressed to local media.

"I agreed to start coaching without a contract and I had a great desire to help.

"I had the support of the players and my staff. We endured until it became clear there's no chance of promises being fulfilled," added Stoichkov, who didn't attend CSKA's training sessions in the last 10 days.

CSKA, the most successful Bulgarian club with 31 league titles, turned to crowd favourite Stoichkov last month for their fourth coach of the year.

Stoichkov, who won three league titles and four national cups as a CSKA player in the 1980s, received a rapturous welcome as thousands of fans cheered him and let off flares during the club's first pre-season training session.

But the problems quickly followed.

Only two weeks later, the owners said in a surprise statement on the club's website that they had transferred all their 6.5 million shares to the 47-year-old Stoichkov, although the deal has yet to be concluded.

Stoichkov also said that several businessmen were ready to start financing the Reds but the owners had prevented the change of the ownership.

"It is not my understanding of fair, transparent and professional work," said Stoichkov. "This is no way to achieve high goals if there's no respect between players, coaches and officials on the one hand, and the club owners on the other.

"Lies cannot be endless and we cannot go forward. Or at least I can not so."