Dimitur Berbatov was named Bulgaria's Football Player of the Year. A poll among sports journalists was conducted by the local newspaper Football and Publishing House Start. Berbatov, player for Germany's Bayer Leverkusen, topped the ranking with a total of 265 points.The results of the poll were announced Friday in the presence of President Georgi Parvanov and Sport Minister Vassil Ivanov.
According to the poll, Bulgaria's top twelve football players for 2002 are:
1. Dimitur Berbatov, Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Germany) - 265
points;
2. Krassimir Balakov, Stuttgart (Germany) - 226;
3. Stilian Petrov, Celtic (Scotland) - 216;
4. Georgi Peev, Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) - 34;
5. Martin Petrov, Wolfsburg (Germany) - 11;
6. Vladimir Manchev, Lille (France) - 10;
7. Velizar Dimitrov, CSKA Sofia - 9;
8. Radostin Kishishev, Charlton Athletic (England) - 4;
9. Svetoslav Todorov, Portsmouth (England) - 4;
10. Georgi Chilikov, Levski Sofia - 4;
11. Georgi Ivanov, Rennes (France) - 4;
12. Zoran Jankovic, Dalian Shide (China) - 3.