Soccer club holds moment of silence to mourn former player who is alive and well

A leading Bulgarian soccer club has apologized for holding a moment of silence mourning a former player — who was alive and well and rushing home to watch the game on TV at home.Arda Kardzhaji announced the death of Petko Ganchev, 78, before its game Sunday with rivals Levski Sofian, with players from both teams lining up before the game to mark their respects.“While I was driving home, my phone started ringing a lot,” the very-much-alive Ganchev told Bulgarian news outlet Blitz, according to a translation by the BBC.“I parked in front of our house, entered the yard and my wife greets me crying, shouting: ‘Petko, Petko, they announced on TV that you have died!’“I couldn’t understand what she was telling me and what had happened.She explained that they called her on the phone and told her what they heard was announced ahead of the match,” he added.Instead of watching the game on TV — as he does whenever his former team plays — Ganchev spent most of Sunday on the phone with friends and relatives reassuring them he was still living.“Being buried alive is quite stressful, really,” he said.News also quickly reached his old team, who apologized for the mix-up before the 90-minute game was over.“The management of PFC Arda would like to express a huge apology to the former Arda player Petko Ganchev and his relatives after the club received wrong information about his death,” the club wrote, according to CNN.“We wish Petko Ganchev many more years of good health and to enjoy the success of Arda.”The club’s sporting director, Ivaylo Petkov, also phoned Ganchev to personally apologize to the ex-player who spent five years at the top-league team....