Former Manchester United player Berbatov recalled a horrific experience in a podcast when he was kidnapped while playing football in CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria. He was only 18 at the time and a group of people tried to force him to move to another club.
You were in CSKA Sofia at the time. How did you get involved in this kidnapping incident?
I was playing for CSKA Sofia and I started to really show my ability. Normally, when you show your quality as a player, teams will come to you, submit an offer, ask how long you have on your contract, how much it will cost to buy you, that kind of thing.
But the situation is different in Bulgaria?
But the situation in my hometown is even different. Where I'm from, it's like this: 'Him? Well, bring him here. ’
How did they “bring you there”?
I don’t have a car. So after training, one of my teammates said to me: ‘Come with me, I need to take you to meet a friend of mine. ’ Of course I was a little naive. Maybe I trust him because we play on the same team. So I got in his car. He drove me to a restaurant.
What did you see when you arrived at the restaurant?
We walked into the restaurant and there were obviously tables in the restaurant. There was a guy sitting alone at a table. On the other three tables, there were some big guys, like refrigerators, typical Balkans, sitting behind the guy, looking scary.
Where is the person who took you there?
The guy who took me there said, ‘Go sit over there and I’ll see you later. ’ Then the guy who was sitting alone said, ‘Come here, sit down. ’
What were you thinking at the time?
I sat down and I was thinking: ‘What happened? what happens? I gotta call my dad, I gotta call my dad. ’
What did that “boss” say to you?
The guy started talking. He said, 'You know what they call me? ’ Now, in English, the word might be, they call me “chef.”
Why is he looking for you?
I was like 'okay'. He said: 'We know your situation. We need you to switch teams. We want you to come to our team. We need to get you. ’ I said: ‘Yes, but I’m playing at CSKA Sofia. I mean, I love it there. ’
How did he respond to your rejection?
He said: 'We will solve this problem. Don't worry. ’ Those guys were just sitting there, and I was just, you know, terrified of course.
How long have you been there? How did you contact your father?
I sat there for about two or three hours. Finally, the guy asked me to call my dad. I called my dad: ‘I’m here. I don't know where I am. You know, the people around me are big guys. ’ You know, I was talking really fast, and my dad was like, ‘Calm down, breathe. Like, calm down and breathe. ’
How scared were you?
I said: ‘What the hell? They are kidnapping me here and I don't want to leave, I want to go home. ’ My father said, ‘Okay, okay. Let me think about what I can do. I'll call that guy. ’ So eventually, somebody called somebody, and the big owners of both teams figured out a way to keep me where I was without having to transfer.
What was your worst imagination at the time?
In that situation, I was only 18 years old, and seeing and knowing how things were resolved in Bulgaria at that time, I thought to myself: 'For me, I am going to be finished. Maybe they’ll hit me, or I don’t know, you know’.
How did you leave in the end?
But eventually, my dad came and got me in the car, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God. ’ It made me realize that I needed to grow up quickly and become a man very early in my life.
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