Lovech will face Haifa in Nijmegen

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SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Litex Lovech will play the first leg of their UEFA Cup first round tie against Israel's Maccabi Haifa in the Dutch town of Nijmegen, the Bulgarian Premier League have confirmed.

UEFA will reconsider its ban on matches played in Israel on September 14, however, the Haifa-based club are due to play Litex on that day.

Israeli clubs have been prevented from hosting matches on home soil because of the war in the north of the Jewish state with Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah.

The return leg will be staged on September 28 in Lovech.

Litex knocked out Slovenia's Koper and Omonia of Cyprus in the preliminary rounds of the competition. Last season, they reached the knock out phase.

Meanwhile, Litex coach Ljupko Petrovic has received a three-match touchline ban for misconduct during the match against Slavia Sofia.

The BFU's disciplinary commission imposed the ban after match officials said in their report that Petrovic had insulted them.

Serbian Petrovic, 59, has denied any wrongdoing and said he would appeal against the ban.

"I did not do anything wrong," said Petrovic, who coached Red Star Belgrade to victory in the European Cup in 1991.

"We shook hands with the referee after the match and I told him that I was disappointed with his decisions on the pitch. It's not an offence."

Dutch winger Thijs Sluijter's late goal gave Litex a 2-2 draw at Slavia Sofia.

Litex, Bulgarian champions in 1998 and 1999, are fifth in the Premier League with seven points from four matches, five points adrift of leaders CSKA Sofia.

Elsewhere in Bulgaria, Lokomotiv Plovdiv have sacked coach Ayan Sadukov after only four matches.

"It happens so often with coaches," said Lokomotiv president Emil Nakov. "You can blame many people for poor results but it's the coach who takes on the responsibility."

Lokomotiv have won only once in the league this season and were beaten 3-2 by city rivals Botev Plovdiv on Saturday.

Sadukov replaced Eduard Eranosyan as coach last October following the shooting death of president Georgi Iliev.

Ivan Marinov has been named as coach on temporary basis.

Lokomotiv are 12th with four points from four matches, four points above the relegation zone.

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