Levski Sofia will clash with arch-rivals CSKA Sofia on November 1 at the Vassil Levski national stadium in one of the few Bulgarian fixtures actually worth watching. Great quality football cannot be expected, of course, the days when those two clubs produced dramatic results - Levski's 7-1, 7-2, 5-0 and 6-3 victories, as well as 5-0, 3-0 or 3-1 for CSKA - seem to be well and truly over.

There were many other dramatic clashes between the sides in the days when Bulgarian football was less affected by match-fixing, when this derby was not and the two Sofia teams played for local pride and for their supporters.

The good old days of yore are gone, however. Unless action is taken to cure Bulgarian football from the rampant corruption and match-fixing epidemic, the quality will be poor, the terraces will be empty, and most Bulgarian football fans will opt to stay home and watch the English Premiership instead.

It is no wonder that ahead of the match on November 1, the headlines in the media are not concerned with the actual game, tactics or lineups, but rather who is going to be the referee, and whether the match is fixed or not. The sheer fact that the ground's capacity is nearly 50 000 seats, yet no more than 20 000 people are expected to show up speaks volumes for itself.

Apart from the match-fixing, the "eternal derby" has been marred by violence surpassing even the violence in some Western European countries. Each side boasts several hardcore casual and skinhead groups of supporters, or "firms", who in the footsteps of English casuals and Italian ultras have one thing in mind - organised football violence, wherever they can have it.

Most of those fans go there especially for the scrap, and on this particular fixture they are certain to be involved, especially since this time, they are likely to be helped by none other but the police themselves, according to an amazing statement by Anton Zlatanov, head of the anti-hooligan squad.

The squad was created as a special task force with the police department, whose duty is to prevent exactly that - hooliganism around the football grounds of Bulgaria. The ludicrous thing is that less than a month after its establishment, its chief has come out and say that they were no longer interested.

"The fans themselves have to ignore the hooligans. We are not men for hire. There are security companies who can do the job, policemen earn 15 to 20 leva per football match, but this is not a private firm, we are the national police, and we deal with crime and murders and football hooliganism is not considered as crime," Zlatanov told 7 Dni Sport, a daily Bulgarian sports newspaper.

The situation is so bad that it has made the news across Europe.

"It's like a war now," Reuters quoted Levski fan Georgi Zhelyazkov as saying. "I'm a lifelong Levski supporter and I've been at the stadium for more than three decades but it seems ridiculous to go there with my kids nowadays. It's so dangerous there."

Zhelyazkov, a 44-year-old IT specialist, is not alone, with thousands of fellow fans expected to stay away from the match, Reuters said in a story about Bulgaria's biggest derby.

"There are several reasons for the low attendances," Bulgarian professional football league president Valentin Mihov told Reuters. "It's the crowd violence in recent years, of course, but also the absence of big figures in the two teams.

"Action on the pitch is a bit predictable now, we don't have talented individuals and people are getting bored with the lack of inspiration," he said.

The potential for trouble is greater this time around though, since in a joint decision between Levski Sofia and the Bulgarian Football Union, it has been ruled that for the first time in 10 years, at the derby this coming weekend, the visiting supporters will not have a specific ticket allocation. Rather, fans but can buy as many tickets as they wish in any part of the stadium, as tickets will be sold on general sale, creating a realistic chance for the nightmare scenario of hardcore groups of supporters from the two clubs coming together in one area of the stands.

Tickets for stand A are priced at 10 leva, stand V - at eight leva, B terrace, which is the home of the Levski hardcore supporters group - will be selling tickets at two leva, and for the G terrace, usually used by CSKA fans, the price is five leva per ticket.

Once upon a time, a very old tourist brochure for Sofia told foreigners visiting the town that "if you are lucky enough to be there during the fixture, it would be great to spare some time and visit the local derby between Levski and CSKA. Its definitely worth your while to be a small part of a little Sofia carnival."

Should any foreigners contemplate going to the ground on Saturday - do it at your own risk.