Yordan Lechkov jailed for dodgy water deal

WORLD Cup cult hero Yordan Lechkov, the balding Bulgarian midfielder who scored a famous winner against Berti Vogts’ Germany in the 1994 quarter-finals, was sentenced to two years in jail yesterday for official misconduct in his role as mayor of Sliven.

A court in the town of Stara Zagora found Lechkov guilty of signing an unprofitable water and sewerage deal and pressuring a tax official. The 45-year-old, who retired in 1998 and was elected mayor of his native town in 2003, is also the Bulgarian Football Union’s vice-president.