A Bulgarian first division team held a minute’s silence for a player… only to later discover he’s still alive.
Arda Kardzhali made the shocking gaffe ahead of facing traditional Bulgarian giants Levski Sofia in the top flight on Sunday.
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Both teams gathered at the centre circle and bowed their heads to remember the home team’s club legend, Petko Ganchev.
A minute’s silence was held for the 78-year-old, who was reportedly out in town getting some work done.
The crowd nobly joined in too, and everything appeared to be happening as usual.
However, on the hour mark, Arda incredibly put out a club statement which read: “The management of PFC Arda would like to express a huge apology to the former Arda player Petko Ganchev and his relatives after the club received wrong information about his death.
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“We wish Petko Ganchev many more years of good health and to enjoy the success of Arda.”
As it turned out, an apology was certainly due, as they nearly gave his wife a heart attack.
Later recalling his version of events on tv station bTV, Ganchev said: “I never miss watching Arda’s matches on television.
“This time, I was about ten minutes late for the game against Levski because I had some work to do.
“As I was driving home, my phone started ringing a lot but I was driving and I didn’t dare to answer.
“I entered the garden and my wife greeted me in tears. She said, ‘Petko, Petko, they’ve announced on TV that you’ve passed away!’ I couldn’t understand what she was saying or what had happened.”
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They at least got to enjoy a decent afternoon, as Arda held 26-time league champions Levski Sofia to a 1-1 draw, keeping the southern team fifth in the table.
