By Reuters
Published on
SOFIA (Reuters) - Police detained around 40 people for public order offences before and during Wednesday evening's Bulgarian Cup final, the interior ministry said.
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The ministry said that 19 were held when skirmishes broke out in downtown Sofia before the match, in which Lokomotiv Plovdiv beat bitter local rivals Botev 1-0 to claim their first trophy since winning the league in 2004.
The fixture has a long history of associated violence. The 2014 league match at Lokomotiv was abandoned in the first half due to crowd trouble and five years earlier a mass brawl involving players and coaching staff marred Botev’s 1-0 league win.
(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; editing by John Stonestreet)