Captain of Bulgaria's Litex Signs with Turkish Kasimpasa

The captain of Bulgarian football team Litex Lovech, Strahil Popov, signed on Tuesday a contract with Turkish club Kasimpasa.

Joining Litex in 2008, Popov made nearly 160 appearances for the team from Lovech, in which he scored six goals and recorded 15 assists.

The defender, who usually plays as right back, has also two appearances for the Bulgarian men's national football team.

The Bulgarian signed a contract with Kasimpasa for the duration of 1.5 years with an option for its extension by another year.

With the team from Lovech, Popov won the championship title (2011), the Bulgarian Cup (2009) and the Bulgarian Supercup (2010).

The news of Popov's transfer comes only hours after it was announced that the Colombian star of Litex - Danilo Asprilla had signed a contract with the reigning champion of the United Arab Emirates - Al-Ain.

The team from Lovech will earn nearly BGN 5.5 M from the two transfers.

The transfers are not surprising considering the uncertain fate of Litex.

The team is facing relegation from the top football division after it abandoned a match against Levski Sofia in December.

Being 1-0 in the lead, Litex abandoned the match shortly before the end of the first half after a second player had been sent off and penalty kick awarded to Levski.

The disciplinary committee of the Bulgarian Football Union (BFS) already announced the relegation of Litex from the A Group in December.

However BFS convened a special ad-hoc committee to review the case, with the final decision of BFS expected to be announced on January 13.