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Beckham Is Voted World's Most Valuable Player

14:00 16/11/2001

Beckham Is Voted World's Most Valuable Player

14:00 16/11/2001

Manchester United and England midfielder, David Beckham, has been named as the winner of the Western Union MVP Award for 2001 after being voted 'the world's most valuable player' by football fans around the world.

Over 12,000 supporters from over 60 countries cast a vote on global soccer website, Megasoccer.com, between the 1st and 12th November 2001. Beckham overcame the challenge of a host of international stars to take the Western Union accolade with 19.3% of the vote. Two of his rivals for the European Footballer of the Year Award (Ballon d'Or) provided the strongest challenge. Rivaldo came second with 15.8% and Michael Owen was third with 12.7%.

Beckham has had an outstanding year. He helped Manchester United retain their FA Premier League title and is the current England team captain. His superb free kick in injury time against Greece at Old Trafford on 6 October 2001 gave England the point they needed to automatically qualify for next year's World Cup Finals in Japan and Korea.

Commenting on the award, Roger Ringwood, Western Union's Vice President of Southern Europe said: "Fans jumped at the chance to have a say on which player would win the Western Union MVP Award. We've had entries from across the globe and the fact that David Beckham finished ahead of so many great players shows just how impressed fans have been with his performances and work rate during 2001."

Western Union is a global leader in money transfer and has a network of over 101,000 outlets in more than 185 countries. This makes it easy for anyone to send or receive money quickly and safely all over the world. The Western Union World FootballSM show is broadcast in over 200 countries and is one of the most watched football magazine programs in the world - reaching nearly 500 million TV households.

Megasoccer.com delivers fans the world of soccer on one site. With information on 45 countries, over 80 leagues and over 1000 teams, it is a global soccer guide, a football search engine, a source for in-depth features and a stats provider all rolled into one.

The ten players who received the most votes are listed below along with the percentage of the vote they received.

ENDS

For further information please contact Rob Salmon (07901 518777) or Michele Singh (07961 108277) in the Western Union Football Press Office or email rob.salmon@fastsearch.com