MLS opted not to pick Beckham

David Beckham is unquestionably the biggest draw Major League Soccer has to offer, yet he'll be miles away when the MLS All-Stars take on Everton FC next week at Rio Tinto Stadium.

On the one hand it's odd MLS wouldn't want its marquee player on display in the league's summer showcase, but in the end integrity won out.

As much as the MLS All-Star Game is about the putting on a show for the fans, and no attraction is bigger than Beckham, it's also about the players. That's why Beckham will be elsewhere next Wednesday.

"David is a very popular player and somebody who fans want to see, and clearly there was lots of discussion as to whether or not we would pick him to be one of the Commissioner's Picks or one of the coaches' selections," said MLS commissioner Don Garber. "But at the end of the day David's only been back to the league and played in one regular season game, and we believe it would be unfair to the other players and not be viewed as a credible move on the league's part."

That's why Garber opted not make Beckham one of his two "Commissioner's Picks" last week, preferring instead to select Real Salt Lake midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales.

All-Star coach Dominic Kinnear reiterated that stance earlier this week when he didn't select Beckham as one of his six reserves.

"I think I view myself as a very fair coach, and I think ... to be selected to the All-Star team without playing a minute before it was selected, I think that would be very unfair to all the guys who've put in the work. I wanted to try and remain consistent," said Kinnear in a media conference call on Thursday previewing the upcoming MLS All-Star Game.

In the end, Garber said Beckham agreed with his exclusion.

"We had discussions with David, and David is a very honorable guy and he didn't want to take a spot away from another roster player who's worked hard during the first half of the season and might even have a bonus in his contract for being selected to the team," said Garber. "It really says a lot about David that it was his strong view that he didn't want to take away a spot from anyone else."

Kinnear opted to fill six of those vacant reserve spots with three of his own Houston players, Pat Onstad, Brad Davis and Brian Ching, even though two other Houston players, Stuart Holden and Geoff Cameron, were already voted in with the First XI.