Ex-player 'poured a brandy' after learning of his 'death'

"When I heard the unspeakable news, I poured myself a tiny brandy."

For Petko Ganchev, a regular Sunday day spent watching his erstwhile nine Arda Kardzhali play Levski Sofia turned into an evening of reassuring friends and household helium was inactive alive.

The Bulgarian top-flight broadside held a minute's soundlessness for Ganchev earlier kick-off successful the mistaken content that the 78-year-old had died.

"I was 10 minutes precocious [for kick-off] due to the fact that I had a idiosyncratic job. While driving home, my telephone started ringing a lot," erstwhile striker Ganchev told Bulgarian website BLITZ, external.

"I parked successful beforehand of our house, entered the gait and my woman greets maine crying, shouting: 'Petko, Petko, they announced connected TV that you person died!'

"I could not recognize what she was telling maine and what had happened. Then 2 of my friends called me.

"Being buried live is rather stressful, really."

Arda rapidly realised the mix-up and posted connected the club's Facebook leafage earlier the crippled had finished to accidental they had been misinformed.

Ganchev, who played for Arda for 5 years, said the club's sporting manager Ivaylo Petkov past phoned him to apologise.

"Look, sometimes specified things happen, but the concern was not casual astatine all," said Ganchev.

"It is mean to dispersed a rumour present successful the village, but they announced it successful beforehand of the full shot assemblage of Bulgaria.

"So galore radical called maine - relatives, friends, acquaintances and not truthful large acquaintances. The concern was not pleasant, but successful the extremity we person to beryllium positive."