Legendary Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov, a darling of the current center-right cabinet and especially the prime minister, is likely to be appointed sports minister next year, according to local media reports.

"The government is considering the nomination of Stoichkov as the next sports minister and the appointment can become a reality in 2012," Tema Sports magazine reports.

Stoichkov will replace Svilen Neykov, husband and coach of Olympic gold medalist Rumyana Neykova, who was appointed 2009 minister for youth and sports, a post that did not exist in the previous government.

Neykov is very likely to be nominated for head of the National Sports Academy.

Hristo Stoichkov was recently appointed Consul in Barcelona, to be active in the regions of Catalonia and Aragon. He was also bestowed the title Doctor Honoris Causa of the "Paisiy Hilendarski" University in the second largest city of Plovdiv, stirring a scandal in Bulgaria and prompting a respected sociologist to quit in outrage.

The former Barcelona forward is a close friend of Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and has on many occasions and very openly declared his full support for him.

Hristo Stoichkov is the most internationally renowned Bulgarian footballer, a winner of the World Cup Golden Boot and the Golden Ball, both in 1994.

He played for Barcelona FC in 1990-1995 as part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team". He was recently appointed as Russian squad Rostov's sporting director. Prior to that, he had coached rather unsuccessfully Bulgaria's national squad, as well as several other teams.

Called 'Kamata' (the Dagger) in his homeland, Stoichkov's fiery reputation is well known both at home and abroad. His aggression has not been limited to the pitch alone, and his outbursts, particularly aimed against referees and journalists, are in a league of their own, the stuff of folklore.

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