FIFA/SOS Ambassador Cannavaro scoops top prize
19/12/2006
In July, he lifted the World Cup trophy. Last month he was named European Footballer of the Year and last night Fabio Cannavaro topped all that off by being named FIFA World Player of the Year.
Last night saw the great and good of world football celebrating another successful year at the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich. This year, SOS Children’s Villages was also among those celebrating, with the event also recognising the achievements of ‘6 villages for 2006’, the charity’s record-breaking joint World Cup campaign with FIFA.
As part of the night’s festivities, ‘6 villages for 2006’, official charity campaign of the 2006 World Cup, was showcased, highlighting how the £17 million raised will be supporting orphaned and abandoned children around the world.
As one of over 100 FIFA/SOS Ambassadors championing the charity, Cannavaro was a central figure in supporting the ‘6 villages for 2006’ campaign.
The Italian defender has had what can only be described as an amazing year, and despite all this success in his natural footballing environment, Cannavaro has also found the time and commitment to support SOS Children’s Villages and its work for orphaned and abandoned children around the world.
Andrew Cates, Chief Executive of SOS Children’s Villages UK, commented “We’re delighted that SOS Children’s Villages’ joint campaign with FIFA was such a great success and are delighted to have the opportunity of showcasing this achievement at the FIFA World Player Gala. Our congratulations, too, to Cannavaro.”
The campaign, which received the support of a number of other World Cup stars including Wayne Rooney, Andriy Shevchenko and Samuel Eto’o, will provide over 800 children with a new family home in six new SOS Children’s Villages in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam. More than 5000 children and 1000 families will also benefit from long-term community outreach programmes.
Read more about ‘6 villages for 2006’.