Bulgaria may lose right to flag at 2026 Winter Olympics

Bulgaria may be banned from competing under its national flag at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, warned Vesela Lecheva, who has been elected President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC).

The reason for this extreme measure by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the ongoing issues within BOC regarding its leadership.

IOC has already recognized Lecheva as the legitimately elected head of the organization, but due to legal proceedings filed after the General Assembly on March 19, 2025, Stefka Kostadinova is still listed as BOC President in the Commercial Register.

At Wednesday’s BOC Executive Bureau meeting, its members issued a statement once again urging Stefka Kostadinova to assist in resolving the situation, which, as Lecheva said, is “already causing irreparable damage to the image of Bulgarian sport.”

IOC has already suspended funding to BOC, and Lecheva warned that further sanctions are expected, one of which could be a ban on Bulgaria’s flag at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games scheduled for February next year. The former sports minister said that she hopes it does not come to the most extreme scenario, in which Bulgarian athletes might not be allowed to participate in the Olympics at all. BOC Secretary General Danail Dimov added that only innocent people are suffering from the actions of the previous leadership.

"With concern and alarm, we are noting that failure to comply with the recommendations and clear directives given by the International Olympic Committee regarding the issue with the Bulgarian Olympic Committee could lead to additional sanctions against BOC on the eve of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. This would not only be a major reputational issue for Bulgaria, but would unfairly harm Bulgarian athletes who bring national pride to our country."

Despite IOC's explicit request for the new leadership to be granted access to the BOC building, employees, communication channels, and documentation, these conditions continue to be ignored by the previous leadership even six months after the General Assembly.

The newly elected BOC leadership headed by Lecheva has not yet been entered into the Commercial Register due to ongoing court appeals. On May 17 2025, the International Olympic Committee provisionally recognized the results of the March 19 BOC Elective General Assembly, and the change in the leadership of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee was updated in the databases of the International Olympic Committee, the European Olympic Committee and the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Later, BOC reacted to IOC's statement, attributing it to "unofficial communications, innuendo and diplomatic pressure aimed at pre-empting the decisions of the Bulgarian court and substituting external will for internal order."