CSKA spokesman Igor Markovski told Reuters that Simoni and the club's management had agreed that he would leave after the championship ends on May 31.

'Simoni's contract expires on May 31 and there is an agreement between him and the management that he would leave after that,' Markovski said. 'Simoni will lead the team in the (three) matches left to the end of the championship.'

Markovski said a new coach had not yet been appointed.

The decision followed an extraordinary meeting of CSKA's management on Thursday and a meeting of the club's owner and the coach earlier on Friday following concerns over the club's future, club officials said.

CSKA, who have been Bulgarian champions 28 times, had nine wins and seven losses in the 21 matches played while Simoni was coach and were beaten 3-1 by arch rivals Levski Sofia in Wednesday's Bulgarian Cup final.

The club's fans have expressed their discontent with the team's poor results recently and threatened to boycott matches.

CSKA last won the league title in 1997 and are currently third in the premier league - 15 points behind league leaders Levski and nine points behind second-placed Litex Lovech.

Simoni joined CSKA last December on what the club said at the time was a 2 1/2 year contract.