Sporting Digest: Football

Bulgaria striker Hristo Stoichkov is to play for Japanese outfit Yokohama Flugels after the World Cup. The J-league side will pay pounds 2.5million for the 32-year-old, who quit Barcelona in mid-season and then played for CSKA Sofia and Saudi Arabian club Al-Ansar.

A German journalist intends to take Bulgarian national team player Krassimir Balakov to court for allegedly hitting him before Wednesday's European Cup-Winners' Cup final. Hoger Gayer of the Stuttgarter Zeitung claims the VfB Stuttgart midfielder, angry over his reporting, verbally abused and hit him on the head. Balakov denied the incident took place.