Dimitar Berbatov says he feels "very ashamed" after England players were subjected to racist abuse from Bulgaria fans.
The Three Lions secured a 6-0 victory in Monday's Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia, but the result was overshadowed after monkey chants and Nazi salutes emerged from sections of the home crowd.
Six people have since been arrested, the the president of the Bulgarian Football Union, Borislav Mihaylov, has resigned, and there have been calls for Uefa to back up their pledge to combat racism with strong action following the events in the Bulgarian capital.
Berbatov, who scored 48 goals in 78 caps at international level for Bulgaria, joined the calls for the authorities to punish those responsible with life bans.
"In every nation there are bad apples and bad people, this was the case in our stadium against England," the former Manchester United and Tottenham striker told Betfair.
"There were people there who were only there to provoke, these people don't deserve to go to games and watch football, and for me they need to be banned for life, not just at football but all kinds of sport.
"I hope our government in Bulgaria does their job and bans them for life, they don't deserve to be there and they have brought shame on all of us.
"Because of them, we are only talking about the incidents of racism and not about the football, which has become secondary and it should not be like that. I am very ashamed of how these people can do this."
England manager Gareth Southgate strongly condemned the events in the Bulgarian capital but also conceded that the UK must deal with racial abuse close to home too - a sentiment echoed by Berbatov.
The 38-year-old added that he hopes countries will come together in the fight against racism, adding: "It is also a problem in England, Italy and all around the world, these people should be banned for life.
"We need to stay together and fight against it because this is unacceptable.
"I cannot accept the criticism that the whole of Bulgaria has received, 50 people cannot define a nation, we are not racists. I am a proud Bulgarian and I know that we are dealing with this straight away, and there will be severe justice.
"I hope that every country around the world is working on this issue, we are all in this together, let’s not divide."
