David Beckham watches the Los Angeles Lakers play the San
Antonio Spurs in their NBA basketball game in Los Angeles.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Speculation about former Manchester United star David
Beckham's potential move to the A-League has been shot down
less than 24 hours after it started.
At the exact same time Football Federation Australia chief
executive David Gallop was appearing live on Fox Sports to
confirm an approach had been received by Beckham's management
about a guest stint in the A-League this season, a
representative for the former England captain issued a
statement quashing the talk.
The statement from Beckham's people contradicted the
promising news Gallop was simultaneously trumpeting, saying
their client was "focused" on his commitments with US club
Los Angeles Galaxy and "there are absolutely no plans to play
in Australia."
He suggested FFA may have been taken in by an unconnected
agent attempting to act as a middle man and set up a deal.
"There is always interest from clubs across the world in
signing David as a player," the spokesperson for Beckham
said.
Gallop, unaware of the latest from Beckham's management, told
Fox Sports the interest was genuine.
The game's new boss said the FFA wanted to help clubs attract
Beckham, but would not be responsible for recruiting the
global superstar.
Gallop emphasised it would be up to clubs to be "the first
point of contact".
It's believed Perth Glory and Melbourne Heart were the two
teams with official interest.
Gallop said: "I spoke to the player's agent today and said to
him that it would be fantastic. Of course it would be
fantastic but there's some hoops that would have to be jumped
through."
"The league doesn't employ players so the clubs need to come
forward and be the first point of contact.
"The league can certainly assist in some respects but I think
what we're talking about at this stage is a guest stint ...
we're not getting ahead of ourselves at this point."
Already boasting the likes of Italian star Alessandro Del
Piero, former Liverpool forward Emile Heskey and Japanese
international Shinji Ono, Beckham would have been the biggest
coup in the history of the league.
With the Major League Soccer (MLS) competition in America
finishing in a fortnight, the timing would at least work for
the Galaxy star.
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