Alan Pardew walks out on team after squad racially abused by fans

Alan Pardew has left his role as manager and technical director of CSKA Sofia with immediate effect after some of the club's fans targeted Black players with racist abuse at one of their matches.

The 60-year-old who has previously managed English clubs West Ham, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and West Bromich Albion was appointed as the technical director of the Bulgarian club back in November 2020.

In April this year, Pardew took charge as manager of CSKA Sofia and last month, his side lost out to rivals Levski Sofia in the Bulgaria cup final.

It had been agreed with that Pardew would continue to be in charge for the rest of the season which ended on May 22, and it was agreed he would also do so for next season too (2022-23).

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However, Pardew has walked away from the club after four Black players in his team were subject to racist abuse by their own fans with bananas being thrown at them a week after their cup loss at one of their last league games against Botev Plovdiv.

In light of the incident, Pardew - who was angered and upset by what happened - demanded urgent talks with club bosses, before he decided to leave after 34 days as manager, according to Sky Sports News.

Alex Dyer, the first Black man who had a coaching role at the club also decided to leave with Pardew as well due to the racist abuse.

A statement by Pardew was posted on the football club's website which read: "The events before and after the match against Botev Plovdiv were unacceptable not only for me but also for my assistant Alex Dyer and for my players. Our players decided to play out of loyalty towards the club.

"This small group of organised racist fans, who tried to sabotage the game, are not the fans I want to coach the team in front of. That's definitely not the right way for CSKA because such club deserves a lot more.

"I would want to express my gratitude towards all true CSKA fans for their support and passion. I also want to thank Grisha and Dani Ganchev [the club owners] for their efforts to bring the club forward despite all the challenges and circumstances.

"It's been a privilege and honour to serve this great club. Unfortunately, my time here has come to an end."

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