Botev President May Have Been Shot Over €2 Million Betting Debt
Tania Levees
06 October 2026
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Iliyan Filipov, president of Botev Plovdiv
The killing of Iliyan Filipov, president of Bulgarian football club Botev Plovdiv, may have been linked to a debt of more than €2 million arising from illegal sports betting, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reports.
Slavcho Megerov, 51, a former business partner of Filipov, has been charged with his murder. On October 4, a court ordered that he remain in custody.
Investigators are considering a financial dispute between the two men as one possible motive for the killing.
According to BNT, Filipov had been giving Megerov money to place bets on sporting events over an extended period but allegedly did not receive all of the profits owed to him.
As a result, Megerov’s alleged debt to Filipov is believed to have exceeded €2 million.

Investigators have so far found no evidence that sporting events were manipulated. Nor has it been established that the bets involved matches featuring Bulgarian football clubs. The wagers are believed to have involved other sporting events, including unofficial competitions.
Filipov was shot dead in Plovdiv on the night of September 30. His name had previously surfaced in a controversy surrounding a possible attempt to influence the result of a match between Botev and Slavia, although there is no confirmed link between that case and his murder.
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