David Beckham

Spokespeople for Bayern freely admitted that the report was a hoax. Main article: Culture of Iraq. Perhaps inspired by these hints, and as an April Fool's joke, Bayern Munich announced on its official Web site that it was set to sign Beckham to a three-year deal, effective with the 2005-06 season. Demographic information from the 2004 edition of the CIA's The World Factbook:. In 2005, Beckham started dropping hints that he may yet leave Madrid, expressing frustration with paparazzi harassing his family. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. In November 2004 it was reported that Real Madrid intended to offer Beckham a two-year extension to his contract, which would effectively keep him in Madrid for the remainder of his playing career. Small communities of Christians, Baha'is, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yezidis also exist.

He added that his wife and sons, who had yet to move to Spain, would join him there. There are more Arab Iraqi Muslims members of the Shiite sect than there are Arab Iraqi Muslims of the Sunni sect, but there is a large Sunni population as well, made up of mostly Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomans, (Shiite 60% of total population). However, on 20 May, Beckham, in a statement issued through his agent, quashed the transfer rumours, stating that he would see out the remaining three years of his contract in Madrid. East Aramaic is also used by the country's Assyrian population. Adding fuel to the rumours, Chelsea's manager at that time, Claudio Ranieri, told an Italian newspaper that the club was pursuing both Beckham and Ronaldo, and The Evening Standard of London reported that Chelsea was prepared to pay £40 million for Beckham. Arabic and Kurdish are official languages and English is the most commonly spoken Western language. Because of the extremely high fee that Real Madrid could command for a Beckham deal, and the fact that the other teams that could afford the fee, had financial constraints (Arsenal, Liverpool) or personality issues (Man U) that would have made a deal unlikely, speculation immediately focused on Chelsea, with its billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. About 2,500 Jews and 20,000 - 50,000 Marsh Arabs live in Iraq.

Real Madrid denied rumours that they were interested in selling Beckham, and banned British reporters from access to the team. Other distinct groups are Assyrians, Turkomans, Iranians, Lurs, Armenians (3%) and Yezidis (possible descendants of the ancient Mesopotamian culture). Sources within the family told the Telegraph that Beckham would almost certainly be back in London. The Kurds differ from Arabs in many ways including culture, history, clothing, and language. Near the end of the 2003-04 season, The Daily Telegraph of London reported that Beckham's major sponsors were trying to arrange for him to return to England for the 2004-05 season. Almost 72% of Iraq's population consists of Arabic speakers (mainly Iraqi but some Hejazi); the other major ethnic group are the Kurds (25%), who live in the north and north-east of the country. He is a UNICEF Goodwill International ambassador. Main article: Demographics of Iraq.

The Sun newspaper reported that the man appeared angry with Beckham and intended to burn down the house. The Iraqi ministry of Finance control and regulation of inflation (now down to 20%) has contributed to this slow economic recovery in the midst of an insurgency. In July of 2004, an intruder was arrested at David Beckham's home for scaling a wall with a can of gasoline. However, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequent transformation of the political and economic landscape, the economy of Iraq has been growing at a rate of 53% GDP every year albeit from a low base. Beckham has denied both allegations, describing them as "ludicrous". The following day the interim Iraqi National Assembly issued a strongly worded resolution rejecting the Paris Club's terms and declaring that the debt was odious. A week later, a second woman, Malaysian-born Australian model Sarah Marbeck, claimed that she had slept with Beckham on two occasions. This deal, with the Paris Club cartel of creditors including the US and Britain, was signed on 20 November 2004.

In April 2004, the British tabloid News of the World carried claims by his former personal assistant Rebecca Loos that he and Loos had had an extramarital affair. The creditors however only offered a partial reduction and rescheduling of their claims in return for an Iraqi commitment to implement an International Monetary Fund economic program. In 2003 his fame was evident when Staffordshire University provided a university course about the star. The Jubilee Iraq campaign argued that these debts were odious (or illegitimate) given that they came from loans to a dictator fighting a war which caused the Iraqi people a great deal of harm, and should therefore be written off unconditionally. It has been speculated that he believed it to be too effeminate. The creditors who financed the Iran-Iraq war had presented post-Saddam Iraq with a bill of nearly US$130 billion of debt and past-due-interest, which had not been serviced during the 13 years of sanctions. In May of 2003 Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson ordered David Beckham not to wear his hair band during matches. The second attempt to liberalize Iraq's economy is linked to the Iran-Iraq war debt.

In the summer of 2003, Beckham was made an OBE in Queen Elizabeth II's honours list. Opposition from senior Iraqi officials together with the poor security situation meant that Bremer's privatization plan was not implemented during his reign, though his Orders remain in place. In 2001, Beckham became the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Other orders established a flat tax of 15% and permitted foreign corporations to repatriate 100% of profits earned in Iraq. It is about a British Sikh girl who idolises David Beckham and harbours ambitions of being a football player. Order 39 laid out the framework for the privatization of everything in Iraq aside from the "primary extraction and initial processing" of the oil reserves themselves, and permitted 100% foreign ownership of Iraqi assets. However, he has become more well known in North America since the success of the British film Bend It Like Beckham. During his year as the supreme authority in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer issued a series of orders designed to restructure Iraq's broadly socialist economy in line with neo-liberal thinking.

Despite their sometimes 'gauche' lifestyle Beckham is well regarded for being a good father and supporting a number of charitable causes. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the economy has to a great extent shut down and attempts are underway to revive it from the damages of the war and rampant crime. In December 2004 the announcement of plans for the christening of their two children, including the construction of a fake Gothic chapel for £120,000 on the grounds of their Berkshire estate, were received with some ridicule, especially as neither are held to be strongly religious. The drop in GDP in 2001 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Following his move to Real Madrid and the disappointment of Euro 2004, British media interest in the Beckham's has faded despite the alleged affair with Loos. However, 28% of Iraq's export revenues under the program are deducted to meet UN Compensation Fund and UN administrative expenses. He is also one of the most famous examples of a metrosexual. Oil exports were more than three-quarters of the pre-war level.

David Beckham is, according to the Google[1] (http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist2003.html) search engine, the most famous sports personality in the world, however the producers of The Simpsons decided that he wasn't famous enough to make a cameo appearance in an episode of the show set in London. Iraq changed its oil reserve currency from US dollar to euro in 2000. The British comedians Alistair McGowan and Roni Ancona have fashioned a popular impersonation of the couple that reinforces this characterisation. In December 1999, the UN Security Council authorised Iraq to export under the program as much oil as required to meet humanitarian needs. This image was fixed early on in the pair's relationship when Victoria admitted she had little interest in Football. Subsequent investigation of the program has revealed significant corruption, with highly placed U.N. officials being bribed, Ba'ath Party officials receiving lucrative kickbacks, and much of the money from oil sales being redirected into weapons research and acquisition by the Iraqi military. In 1998 Beckham was pictured wearing a Sarong while on holiday with Victoria that resulted in much British media comment and created a Characterisation of David Beckham as a well meaning and likable innocent often embarrassed by Victoria's interest in her own celebrity. For the first six, six-month phases of the program, Iraq was allowed to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts.

Early on in his career Beckham secured a number of lucrative sponsorship deals including Adidas, Vodafone and Diesel. Although government policies supporting large military and internal security forces and allocating resources to key supporters of the Ba`ath Party government have hurt the economy, implementation of the United Nations' oil-for-food program started in December 1996 was to have improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. Beckham is well-known for his frequent hairstyle changes and, despite being criticised for influencing teenagers' hairstyles, still regularly appears sporting a radically new look. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic sanctions, and damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically reduced economic activity. They have three sons, Brooklyn, born March 4, 1999, Romeo, born September 1, 2002, and Cruz, born February 20, 2005. A combination of low oil prices, onerous repayment of the war debts (at around US$3 billion a year) and the costs of reconstruction resulted in a serious financial crisis which was the main short term motivation for the invasion of Kuwait. Beckham's highly publicised marriage to Spice Girl and media celebrity Victoria Adams, otherwise known as Posh Spice, has made them both popular targets for the tabloid press, which has dubbed the couple "Posh and Becks". After hostilities ended in 1988, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and restoration of damaged facilities.

While some praised Beckham for his honesty others questioned his judgement considering his status as a role model for younger players. In the 1980s financial problems caused by massive expenditures in the eight-year war with Iran and damage to oil export facilities by Iran led the government to implement austerity measures, borrow heavily, and later reschedule foreign debt payments; Iraq suffered economic losses from the war of at least US$100 billion. Beckham later admitted that the foul had been intentional to ensure he would not carry forward a yellow card to the later qualifying stage even though he would miss the next England match. Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. As this was the second yellow card he had received in the qualifying competition he was banned from the next match. Main article: Economy of Iraq. After scoring a brilliant goal from open play to give England a 2 - 0 lead Beckham then received a yellow card for a body checking foul on a Wales defender that saw the other player stretchered off and Beckham being substituted with a fractured rib. Iraq is considered to be one of the fifteen lands that comprise the so-called "Cradle of Humanity".

Beckham again found himself the centre of self-inflicted controversy following the match against Wales as part of the 2006 World Cup Qualifying Round. Other major cities include Basra in the south and Mosul in the north. When bidding closed on 22 July, the winning bid of €28,050 was made by the Canadian internet casino GoldenPalace.com, which announced that it plans to exhibit the ball around the world for charitable purposes. The capital Baghdad is situated in the centre of the country, on the banks of the Tigris. eBay soon determined that virtually all of the bids, including one for €10million, were fake. The northern mountainous regions experience cold winters with occasional heavy snows, sometimes causing extensive flooding. The Spanish spectator who caught Beckham's miss put the ball up for auction on eBay España. The local climate is mostly a desert clime with mild to cool winters and dry, hot, cloudless summers.

As with his performance in 1998 Beckham was negatively compared with the rising stars of the England 2004 team Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard and in some sectors it was speculated that the revelations about his private life earlier that year contributed to a poor performance. Iraq has a small coastline with the Persian Gulf. Close to the coast and along the Shatt al-Arab there used to be marshlands, but many of these were drained in the 1990s. Beckham later blamed the miss on the poor state of the pitch, the British press blamed referee Urs Meier for the loss (he had earlier disallowed a contentious goal by Sol Campbell) even publishing his phone number and postal address. The north of the country is largely mountainous, with the highest point being Haji Ibrahim at 3,600 m. Beckham fired his shot far over the crossbar and England went on to lose the shoot-out 6-5 after Englishman Darius Vassell also missed. Large parts of Iraq consist of desert, but the area between the two major rivers Euphrates and Tigris is fertile, with the rivers carrying about 60 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. Then, when England's Quarter-Final against hosts Portugal went to a penalty shootout, he was the first England player to attempt a shot. Main article: Geography of Iraq.

He had his penalty saved by former Manchester United team-mate Fabien Barthez in his side's 2-1 defeat to France in their opening group game. The constitutionally recognized Kurdistan Autonomous Region includes parts of a number of northern provinces, and is largely self-governing in internal affairs. Beckham played in all England's matches at Euro 2004, but failed to shine. Particularly in Iraqi government documents the term governorate is preferred:. During the second half Beckham pulled out of a crucial challenge that led directly to Ronaldinho's goal that sent England out of the competition. Iraq is divided into 18 governorates or provinces (Arabic: muhafazat, singular - muhafadhah, Kurdish: پاریزگه Pârizgah). The quarter final against Brazil again saw England start strongly with Michael Owen's brilliant individual effort but then faded after conceding a goal due to a clear error by the keeper David Seaman. Main article: Governorates of Iraq.

The second round match against Denmark saw Beckham contribute to two goals from set pieces against a lacklustre side. The first is to attempt to reign in the insurgency which has blighted the country in recent months, and the second is to re-engage in the writing of a new Iraqi constitution, as outlined above, to replace the Iraqi transitional constitution of 2004. Beckham struck a clean penalty and then England hung on to win the match and then went on to draw 0-0 with Nigeria. The new Government has two major tasks ahead of them. During the charged first half Owen won a penalty and when Beckham stepped forward to take it he was approached by Simeone but who was ignored. Most power will be invested in him. The stage was then set for the showdown with Argentina. Ibrahim al-Jaafari a Shiite, whose United Iraq Alliance Party won the largest share of the vote, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of Iraq.

Despite a good first half and taking the lead, England faded in the second half and Beckham was substituted with England drawing 1-1 with Sweden. It also appointed Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shiite Arab, and Ghazi al-Yawar, the former Interim President and a Sunni Arab, as Vice Presidents. After the miracle of the win in Munich expectations for the England squad were high but even though Beckham was declared match fit for the first match against Sweden he had only had limited training. On 5 April, the Iraqi National Assembly appointed Jalal Talabani, a prominent Kurdish leader, President. It was a cause of some controversy as the player that caused the injury was Argentinian and as England had already been drawn against them in the group stage the British Press speculated the injury was deliberate to 'hobble' England's star player. However, these rules will be set aside once the Transitional National Assembly is seated. Two months before the start of the 2002 World Cup Finals Beckham was injured during a Champions League match breaking the metatarsal bones of his left foot. Since Iraqi forces are currently considered ill-equipped to police and secure the country, it is expected that coalition troops will remain in the country for many years to come.

Needing only one point from the match in order to qualify for the World Cup, Beckham dragged an otherwise poor England side to qualification with sheer determination and a perfectly executed, last-minute free kick. Meanwhile, taking the role of captain seems to have helped mature him, in both skill and temperament. Furthermore, since the coalition forces are currently an official occupying power under the United Nations, coalition troops can remain in control of the country indefinitely despite the transfer of sovereignty. The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2-2 draw against Greece. Controversially, however, it states that all laws that were in effect on the transfer date cannot be repealed. His leadership, mainly by example due to his fitness and workrate helped England to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals and the 1-5 defeat of Germany in Munich during a qualifier (a pivotal event for English football fans). constitution. Following England's poor performance in Euro 2000 (from which Beckham was one of the few players to emerge with credit) and later poor performances, the departure of Kevin Keegan as manager saw Beckham promoted to captain, initially under caretaker manager Peter Taylor and maintained by Sven-Göran Eriksson. The constitution also includes basic freedoms like freedom of religion, speech, and assembly, and in many ways has been hailed as more liberal than the U.S.

He received a similar vilification following his dismissal for a dangerous challenge in the World Club Championships the next year. The election system for the council effectively ensures that all three of Iraq's major ethnic groups are represented. Most commentators were mollified when it became public that the then England Manager Glen Hoddle supported a number of new age beliefs and practices that had created some conflict in the England team camp. Under the Iraqi transitional constitution, signed March 2004, the country's executive branch is now led by a three-person presidential council. On returning home, Beckham became the target of criticism, sometimes justified (the accusation of petulance, for example), and his performance was negatively contrasted with that of Michael Owen, but much merely gratuitous including being burnt in effigy. Piers Morgan the then editor of the Daily Mirror later apologised for some of the harsher criticism. The Assembly will:. This act arguably cost England the game (which they lost on penalties) and the chance of advancing in the tournament. On January 30, 2005, the Iraqi people voted in an election conducted by their transitional government which elected a 275-member Transitional National Assembly.

In the second round of that competition he received a red-card for retaliation, following a foul challenge by the Argentine Diego Simeone. The interim president was Sheikh Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, and the interim prime minister Iyad Allawi. By 1998 Beckham was a regular international, and travelled with the England squad to the World Cup. The actual transfer of sovereignty occurred on 28 June 2004. During the summer of 2004, Real also signed Englishmen Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate. In November 2003, the US-managed Coalition Provisional Authority announced plans to turn over sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government by mid-2004. He has become a favourite of the notoriously fickle Real Madrid crowd, and established an excellent playing relationship with Ronaldo. No non-Ba'ath candidates were allowed to run.

Beckham scored five times in his first 16 matches (including Real's 600th goal in the European Cup/Champions League, against Olympique Marseille on 26 November 2003), a higher scoring rate than his last year at Manchester United (11 goals in 52 games). The unicameral Iraqi parliament, the National Assembly or Majlis al-Watani, had 250 seats and its members were elected for 4-year terms. His transfer to Real Madrid has proven very fruitful for both Beckham and the club. From 1979 to 2003, Iraq was under Ba'ath Party rule, under the leadership of President Saddam Hussein. Real Madrid shirts bearing his name and number were sold out in Madrid on the day his transfer was completed and Real Madrid were expected to receive €624,000 for the sale of the shirts. Main article: Politics of Iraq. He is believed to have chosen the number as a tribute to his idol, Michael Jordan, who made number 23 famous with the Chicago Bulls. The current situation remains volatile while the new government attempts to re-establish security in the country.

He successfully completed the transfer on July 1 and was presented with the squad number of 23 on July 2. A coalition of Kurds and Shi'ites came to power (both groups were repressed by Saddam's government), although the Sunnis are now under-represented due to the fact that Sunni leaders encouraged them not to vote. At the time of the announcement of his transfer to Real Madrid, Beckham and his wife (Victoria) were on a week-long tour of Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand promoting beauty products, chocolate, motor oil, and mobile phones, which it was reported would earn them more than the entire first year of his Real Madrid contract. On January 30, 2005, Iraq held new legislative elections, changing the political face of Iraq, which had been mostly dominated by its Sunni minority since its foundation. It is probably no coincidence that Beckham was transferred just before Real started a far-eastern tour, but it would be very unfair to say that his marketing potential alone was the only reason for his transfer. The American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq removed Saddam Hussein's Government from power, replacing it with an interim American-backed Provisional Authority, and then an interim government. Apart from benefiting from his football ability, this transfer gives the Spanish club an opportunity to profit from merchandising, especially in the Far East, where Beckham is enormously popular, and Manchester United have until now had the lion's share of interest. Saddam's absolute and particularly bloody rule lasted throughout the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), which ended in stalemate; the al-Anfal campaign of the late 1980s, which led to the alleged gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 resulting in the Gulf War and the United Nations-imposed economic sanctions and no-fly zones which followed.

On June 17, 2003, Beckham signed a four-year contract with Real Madrid of Spain, potentially worth up to €35 million (£25 million, USD 41 million). The Ba'ath's key figure became Saddam Hussein who acceded to the presidency and control of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), Iraq's supreme executive decision making body, in July 1979, killing off many of his opponents in the process. In total Beckham scored 86 goals in 397 games for Man United, a rate of roughly 2 goals every 9 games, highly commendable for a midfielder. The British installed Hashemite monarchy lasted until 1958, when it was overthrown by one of a series of coups, the last of which in 1968 brought the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power. Beckham's last match for Manchester United was the final league match against Everton at Goodison Park in which he scored the winner, his last act as a player was lifting the Barclay's Premiership trophy at the match's conclusion. It was formed out of three former Ottoman Willayats (regions): Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. After this episode transfer stories appearing to originate with Victoria were rife, linking Beckham with Chelsea and Barcelona. Modern Iraq became a British mandate (the British League of Nations Trust Territory of Iraq) at the end of World War I (the, and was granted independence from British control in 1932.

This conflict reached a peak during the 2002-3 season with 'The Battle of the Boot' when after losing a match to Arsenal an enraged Fergusson reportedly castigated team members in the dressing room and then kicked a football boot that struck Beckham over the eye requiring stitches. Main article: History of Iraq. Beginning with the 2001-02 season the relationship between Ferguson and Beckham began to deteriorate though the factors contributing to this had less to do with Beckham's performance on the pitch and more to do with the continual pressures of agents and sponsors and a continuous series of leaked stories apparently originating from Victoria Beckham. 3 October 1932 from the British. In the 1998-99 season, he was part of the United team that won the "treble" - Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, a feat unprecedented in English football, which earned the club's manager, Alex Ferguson, a knighthood. A new transitional government was elected in January 2005, following the March 2003 invasion led by British and American forces which drove the former leader Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party from power. As the controversial Eric Cantona was suspended for a large part of the 1995-96 season due to an assault on a spectator Beckham became the focus of the Manchester United marketing effort and helped the side to the Premiership and FA Cup trophies and to their dominance of domestic football. It has a very narrow section of coastline at Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf.

The next year he came to wider public notice when playing against Wimbledon; having spotted the opposition goalkeeper, Neil Sullivan, had come forward off his line, he kicked a lob from the halfway line that went over the keeper into the net. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the north-west, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. Beckham first signed a YTS (youth training scheme) contract (this is similar to an apprenticeship) with Manchester United in 1991, and made his League debut in 1995, aged 19. The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and also including the southern Kurdistan. He started his career at Manchester United, where he spent over a decade. Others: Postage stamps and postal history of Iraq. He is noted for the quality of his crossing and ability to hit free-kicks and corners, particularly long-range free-kicks. He is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham. History: List of Kings of Iraq, List of Presidents of Iraq, List of Prime Ministers of Iraq, British Mandate of Iraq.

He is a midfielder for Real Madrid and captain of the English national team. Politics: New Iraqi Army, Foreign relations of Iraq, Human rights violations in Iraq, Iraqi insurgency. David Robert Joseph Beckham OBE (born May 2, 1975) is an English footballer born in Leytonstone, London. Geography: List of places in Iraq, Communications of Iraq, Transportation in Iraq, Arab Tribes in Iraq. David Beckham: My Side; by David Beckham. Events: 2005 in Iraq, 2004 in Iraq, 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Post-invasion Iraq, 2003-2005. Beckham: My World; by David Beckham & Dean Freeman (ISBN 0340792701). Economy: Iraq Stock Exchange.

Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground; by David Beckham & Tom Watt (ISBN 0060570938). Music of Iraq. Religions: Muslim 93-95% (Shi'ite 60%, Sunni 40%), Christian,Yezidi or other 5-7%. Ethnic groups: Arab 70%-75%, Kurdish 20%-25%, Turkoman, Assyrian or other 5%. Wasit Shiite.

Salah ad Din Sunni. Ninawa Sunni. Maysan Shiite. Diyala Sunni.

Dhi Qar Shiite. Dahuk Kurdish. Baghdad Shiite, Sunni. Babil Shiite and Sunni.

At Ta'mim Kurdish. As Sulaymaniyah Kurdish. Arbil Kurdish. An Najaf Shiite.

Al Qadisyah Shiite. Al Muthanna Shiite. Al Karbala Shiite. Al Basrah Shiite.

Al Anbar Sunni. Under the new constitution, Iraq will elect a permanent government in December 2005. Draft Iraq's new constitution, which will be presented to the Iraqi people for their approval in a national referendum in October 2005. It has named a Presidency Council, consisting of a President and two Vice Presidents. (By unanimous agreement, the Presidency Council will appoint a Prime Minister and, on his recommendation, cabinet ministers.).

Serve as Iraq's national legislature.