McAllister said the Bulgarian police initially wanted Northern Ireland fans to take an elongated walking route of nearly six kilometres to the stadium in temperatures of 30C before agreeing a more direct four-kilometre journey on foot after protests from the visiting fans’ representatives.
“In the end, they accommodated us from the Old Town to the stadium in the heat which took almost an hour and at one point, they had us standing there for 20 minutes and wouldn’t allow us to proceed because they were searching through the streets for other Northern Ireland fans.”
Asked whether the Bulgarian police’s approach could have been because of fear that Northern Ireland fans might be attacked, McAllister replied: “If there is an issue with people’s safety, why have us walk for almost an hour right through the city, through basically built-up areas. That’s not a very wise decision.
“The easiest way to try and do that would be to put on a shuttle bus service.”
The Northern Ireland fans spokesman believes the Bulgarian police’s decision not to seek PSNI assistance contributed to Sunday’s events.
“On most occasions, the Police Service of Northern Ireland would be invited to travel and that’s done through the UK Football policing unit in London,” he said, adding that the Bulgarian police “only turned down [the offer of help] the week before the game”.