Alan Pardew quits CSKA Sofia after vile fans hurl bananas at their black players

Former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has quit as manager of Bulgarian first division outfit CSKA Sofia due to a "small group of organised racist fans"

Alan Pardew has dramatically quit his role as manager and technical director of CSKA Sofia after vile fans hurled bananas at the club's black players.

Already installed in an advisory role, the former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace boss, 60, was placed in charge of the first team in March when Stoycho Mladenov resigned from his post. Leading the Bulgarian outfit to a second-place league finish, Pardew also had the chance to retain the cup against arch-rivals Levski Sofia.

But CSKA fell just short in the final as Iliyan Stefanov's second-half strike condemned The Army to a 1-0 defeat. Following a meeting with the chairman, Pardew had been persuaded to take the reins for the 2022/23 campaign, but the 60-year-old performed a quickfire U-turn when CSKA arrived for the penultimate away match of the season.

Players and club officials were met by large numbers of angry fans outside Botev Plovdiv's 18,000 capacity stadium to protest against the 1-0 loss to Levski. In harrowing scenes, four black players were then subjected to racist abuse as vile supporters threw bananas in their direction.

CSKA initially refused to play the contest but were later persuaded to do so. Pardew, alongside assistant Alex Dyer - the first Black man to hold a coaching role at the club., have now decided to leave their roles.

In a statement on the CSKA Sofia website, Pardew said: "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 a 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."