Bulgarian Olympic Committee vice president shot dead in Sofia

Vice-President of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, President of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation, businessman and politician Slavi Binev was shot dead in Sofia. This is reported by bTV with reference to the city Prosecutor’s office.

According to the chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, Lubomir Nikolov, 60-year-old Binev was shot once in the head. One shell casing was found at the crime scene.

Police arrested three men suspected of involvement in the murder. They were intercepted on the Trakia motorway after their car was spotted leaving Sofia. Two weapons were seized during the arrest. According to the Interior Ministry, one was apparently thrown away shortly before the car stopped, and the second was found in a bag belonging to one of the people in the car.

Nikolov noted that the main version of the motive for the murder is related to unresolved financial disputes. The detainees were engaged in construction business.

Binev is the European champion in taekwondo (1992) and multiple champion of Bulgaria. He was president of the country’s Taekwondo Federation, first vice president of the European Taekwondo Union (ETU), and since 2025 a board member of the World Taekwondo Federation. He has also been a member of the Executive Bureau of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since 2005.

In 2014-2017, Binev was a deputy of the People’s Assembly of Bulgaria, in 2007-2014 – a deputy of the European Parliament from Bulgaria from the Attack party.