Soccer-Litex thrown out of Bulgarian league for walking off pitch

SOFIA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Litex Lovech have been expelled from the Bulgarian league after the players walked off the pitch in protest over the referee's decisions in Saturday's match against Levski Sofia, the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) said. "It was the only possible decision according to (BFU's) disciplinary rules," BFU's disciplinary commission chairman Yuri Kuchev told reporters on Wednesday. Litex were down to 10 men when referee Georgi Yordanov sent off a second player and awarded Levski a penalty near the end of the first half, prompting the visitors' sporting manager Stoycho Stoilov to order the players to leave the field. Litex, one of most successful clubs in Bulgaria in the last two decades after winning four league titles and four domestic cups since 1998, were also fined 20,000 levs ($11,167). The BFU decision can be appealed within seven days. ($1 = 1.7909 leva) (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Ken Ferris)