Nikolay Rashkov on Building the Euroleague in Bulgaria and Untold Stories of Apoel Stars

• 18 May 2026 | 14:40
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The man who brought Euroleague to Bulgaria, Nikolay Rashkov, was a special guest in Sportal.bg's studio, where he discussed the arduous work process, the challenges, and the strict requirements that had to be met for the country to host games of Apoel Tel Aviv in the "league of the rich" in Sofia and Botevgrad.

"The truth is that Euroleague being in Sofia is a culmination of many factors. Such events require significant capital resources and time. It was challenging for anyone to handle, but my team and I took on this responsibility. Belgrade was initially considered but ruled out, as was Cyprus. Sofia became the only viable option. 'Arena Sofia' did not meet the standards. A major portion of the facilities had to be reconstructed to produce a hall that has one of the highest ratings in Euroleague," Rashkov shared.

The standard of the court, the results system, the timing, the scoreboards, which were smaller than Euroleague requirements... I was amazed at how my team managed to complete the renovation in just 28 days. One by one, everything fell into place as the audience saw it.

From the moment we entered the hall, everything pointed to the impossibility of the project due to the lack of time, not lack of will. The entire team was focused on the game against Olympiacos. This was our driving force and motivation - to bring the match between Olympiacos and Vesenkov to Bulgaria. This was our primary goal," Rashkov concluded.

For more on the topic, check out our video!

Photography: Vladimir Ivanov