“It’s Systemic”: Athletes Lead Bulgarian Weightlifting Corruption Protest

Karlos Nasar joined other Bulgarian weightlifters in protest on the steps of the Ministry of Sport in Sofia on Mar. 5, 2026. Also in attendance was Ivan Dimov, whom we spoke with at length about the situation.

The situation: Athlete-turned-bureaucrat Stefan Botev is using procedural loopholes to remain the de-facto President of the Bulgarian federation, despite having been voted out of power amid accusations of financial corruption.

Botev allegedly used his position to funnel federation funds into his own personal businesses and cooked the books on certain team expenses. “It’s systemic,” Dimov told us several days prior. “Most of the National Team will join the protest if nothing changes.”

It’s a drum Nasar has beaten in front of Bulgarian media for months—check out our documentary on YouTube to learn more about that. But Dimov is the first athlete willing to speak on-record to us about it.

Here's what he had to say.

Below is our conversation with Bulgarian weightlifting National Team member Ivan Dimov. Dimov agreed to speak-on record and be referenced by name for this interview. Portions of this interview have been edited for clarity.

Weightlifting House (WH): Describe the situation in your own words.

Ivan Dimov (ID): “For the past 3 years, we’ve had problems with our national federation officials. Every year since, we’ve had different Presidents and a new governing body. We had high hopes for Stefan Botev, but his management has only aggravated the situation. He showed very poor financial decisioning and a total lack of communication or dialogue with the federation’s council.

Botev personally managed the federation’s financial affairs with questionable behavior and didn’t show any financial transparency with expenses. When this problem became systemic within Bulgarian weightlifting, the federation council requested information about Botev’s financial dealings, which he rejected. 

So, the council did the only thing they could do—arrange another election for a new President and governance. This happened, and Botev overwhelmingly lost. When a new President is elected, he must be entered into the national list of non-commercial organizations. However, there is a rule allowing the process to be disputed by member clubs.

Until the dispute is settled, Botev remains the de-facto leader of Bulgarian weightlifting. And because this process takes a long time, our federation currently has no budget for 2026. There is uncertainty about our participation at the upcoming European Championships.”

WH: To summarize, Mr. Botev was democratically voted out of power in Bulgarian weightlifting, but is using a legal loophole, with the assistance of several clubs, to prevent his successor from taking over?

ID: "Yes."

WH: What are specific examples of corruption by Mr. Botev as head of Bulgarian weightlifting?

ID: “He spent money in ways that did not align with the fiscal policies of the federation—23,000 euro, or 46,000 Bulgarian levs. I’ve seen multiple instances of Botev buying training equipment, clothing, and supplements from his personal businesses. Training camps were also concentrated in one specific part of Bulgaria, and the costs were higher than usual. The camps were used to transfer money under the table. I strongly doubt the actual amounts align with reported costs, because Botev never showed the receipts until the beginning of this year.”

WH: What do you personally think should happen?

ID: "I am quite hopeful that, if the governmental change-over happens, things will be better. The new President can make the right decisions for us."

WH: Why do you have faith in the new President?

ID: "The new President is Asen Zlatev, 1980 Olympic Champion at 75KG. Mr. Zlatev was one of the main voices last year who consistently called for more financial transparency. He is well-known by the whole weightlifting community in Bulgaria as an honorable and honest man. I hope it stays that way."