Spain will soon have a cabinet-level sports minister, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Wednesday as he received the country's victorious Davis Cup tennis team.

Sport is currently overseen in the government by a secretary of state for sport, currently Jaime Lissavetzky, who is under the minister of education and sport.

"There will be a sports minister in the next ministerial reshuffle, we are working on that," said Zapatero.

The year 2008 has been spectacular for Spanish sports, with the country winning the Euro 2008 football tournament and the Davis Cup tennis tournament and Spaniard Carlos Sastre taking the Tour de France.

"We are among the best countries in the world due to your success. It is easy to be in the G8 of sport," joked the prime minister, referring to his efforts to join the elite group of countries at this month's crisis summit in Washington.

Zapatero was speaking as he received the squad that beat Argentina at the weekend to give Spain its third Davis Cup title: Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Marcel Granollers, along with world number one Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro, who took part earlier in the competition.

AFP

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