This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
On August 15, 2019, Lokomotiv Plovdiv's Nigerian defender Stephen Eze received a visa to play in the Europa League game against Strasbourg, just in time for the match.
According to Bulgarian media, Eze and Lokomotiv's Tajik midfielder Parvizdzhon Umarbayev had initially filed late applications for Schengen visas, putting them at risk of missing the second leg of their team's third qualifying round game against the French team.
While Umarbayev received his visa on time to travel with the team on Wednesday, Eze was only given a one-day visa to rejoin his club early Thursday and return to Bulgaria right after the match, as reported by sports website sportal.bg.
Lokomotiv had won the first round match in Plovdiv 1-0.
