Soccer Stars Joined Campaign for European Elections

Footballers Luis Figo, David Villa, Carlos Marchena López, and Cristian Chivu, and the cyclists Fränk and Andy Schleck urged voters to participate in European elections.
Soccer Stars Joined Campaign for European Elections
6/5/2009
Updated:
7/30/2009
Footballers Luis Figo, David Villa, Carlos Marchena López, and Cristian Chivu, and the cyclists Fränk and Andy Schleck urged voters to participate in European elections. They officially joined the campaign for European elections to be held from June 4 to 7, 2009, in the Member States of the European Union.

The famous athletes have made their calls for active participation in the elections for European Parliament in a series of short videos that were broadcast on June 2, 2009, in “Eurovision” and the satellite channel EbS, reported the press office of European parliament.

The sports stars tell people about their personal reasons why it is important to participate in the elections. Copyrights of the clips are of EU Parliament. They will be broadcast on the Web sites of the European Parliament and YouTube.


Star Profiles:

Luis Figo, a Portuguese footballer, began his career at Sporting Lisbon and made his name as part of the “golden generation” of Portuguese youngsters who won World U16 and U20 titles in 1989 and 1990. He played for the best European football clubs: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and is currently with FC Internazionale. In 2001 he was chosen FIFA World Player of the Year.
 
David Villa, a Spanish footballer, currently plays for Valencia CF and the Spanish national team. He was top scorer in the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, won by his national team. This season, he is moving toward a goal-scoring record, reaching the level of previous Valencia legends such as Kempes, Waldo, and Mundo. Villa’s nickname is “el Guaje” (The Kid in Asturian).
 
Cristian Eugen Chivu is a Romanian footballer. Currently captain of the Romanian national team, he took part in Euro 2000 when just 19 years old. He earned his 50th international cup against Slovenia in August 2007 and led Romania at Euro 2008. He currently plays for F.C. Internazionale. Chivu also played in Ajax Amsterdam.
 
Carlos Marchena López is a Spanish footballer currently playing in Valencia CF. In 2008 he played on the Spanish national team, which won the UEFA European Football Championship.

The brothers Fränk and Andy Schleck are professional road bicycle racers from Luxembourg with some notable successes in the Tour de France and other classics. The brothers split the 2005 national championships between them, with Fränk winning the road race and Andy winning the time trial. Fränk’s greatest achievements include winning the 2006 edition of the Amstel Gold Race classic. That same year, he won at Alpe d’Huez in the Tour de France and finished tenth overall. This year, Andy won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, becoming the first winner of the race from Luxembourg since Marcel Ernzer in 1954. He was best young rider in the Giro in 2007 and the Tour de France in 2008.