An Irish football fan who was detained in Bulgaria on suspicion of using a fake passport has been released and is travelling home.
Daniel Fulham, from Tallaght, was arrested while trying to cross the border into Romania after travelling to Razgrad to support Shamrock Rovers in their Champions League qualifier against Ludogorets on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old was among a group of Rovers fans returning to Bucharest to fly home when border officials stopped their bus and accused him of travelling on a fake passport. His family said he was held at a detention centre in Bulgaria.
In a tweet yesterday afternoon, Fulham thanked those who helped him and said he was hoping to fly back to Dublin in the evening. “Really appreciate all the concerns and incredible work from everyone involved to help me get home,” he said. “I should be on a flight home to Dublin tonight.”
Fulham’s mother, Noeleen, told The Times that her son had been released after the Department of Foreign Affairs contacted the Bulgarian authorities to confirm that his passport was legitimate.
“He’s on his way home,” she said. “The border he was concerned about, he got through. He’s on his way to the embassy in Bucharest now and from there he’ll be going to the airport.”
Noeleen said she had been working with Irish officials to prove his identity over the past two days but that the Bulgarian authorities had delayed his release. She described her son’s treatment as “disgraceful”.
“He said he was treated so bad. He said they were mocking and jeering him. God, he’s only a young man following his football team,” she said. “He got two minutes on the phone to me, everything was taken from him. He was literally in the cell by himself not knowing what was going to happen. It was very wrong.”
Earlier yesterday, Mark Guiney, who was travelling with Fulham, said his friend had been detained at the border despite producing evidence of his identity including bank cards, a driving licence, social media profiles and his original passport application.
“They said they were getting an official facial recognition guy out. Then he came with two armed police, two detectives, and he said ‘no it’s not him’ and they arrested him,” Guiney said. “[Fulham] sent us a message to say that he was being brought back into Bulgaria and could be detained for up to four days.”
Noeleen believes her son was held in custody because his passport photo was taken when he was on medication that caused his face to be swollen. “But he’s been to Australia, he’s been to London, he’s been to Malta last week,” she said.
Seán Crowe, a Sinn Fein TD who has been supporting the family, said Fulham has been the Shamrock Rovers’ mascot and regularly travelled to overseas games. “There was no problem going in, it was on the way out,” he said.
Shamrock Rovers FC said there was “no doubt” about the validity of Fulham’s passport and that it hoped the matter was closed quickly so he could return home.
“Daniel Fulham is a long-standing club member and volunteer who has made many international journeys in his working and social life with the same passport as was presented to the border police,” the club said on Facebook.
In response to the club’s statement, Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, tweeted that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Irish embassies were “working on this”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was providing consular assistance but did not provide specific details.
John Brady, Sinn Fein’s foreign affairs spokesman, tweeted that Fulham’s detention by the Bulgarian authorities was “disgraceful and without any justification”.
Bulgaria’s ministry of foreign affairs did not respond to questions.
