SPORTS

Beckham's team deny FFA talk of Australia move

November 16, 2012 22:30 IST

David Beckham's representatives have shot down claims made by the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) that they were negotiating a move to the A-League for the former England captain.

According to FFA officials, the approach was made in relation to the 37-year-old LA Galaxy midfielder playing in the A-League during the current 2012-13 season.

"There are absolutely no plans to play in Australia," Beckham's management team said in a statement released to Sky Sports in England on Friday.

"David is completely focused on the MLS playoffs and winning another Championship with the Galaxy."

That poured cold water on the FFA's statement that they had been contacted by the player's agent and begun negotiations with one of the sport's iconic names.

"The approach from David Beckham's people is another sign of how much the A-League has grown in stature on a global basis," the FFA said earlier on Friday.

"Beckham is a superstar on the world stage and he would be another massive signing for the A-League after the arrivals of Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and Shinji Ono."

Local media in Australia had reported that Beckham was interested in a 10-game deal at the conclusion of the Major League Soccer season.

Beckham's Galaxy, reigning Major League Soccer champions, face the Seattle Sounders next week in the second leg of their Western Conference final after winning the home leg 3-0.

Beckham is out of contract at the end of the MLS season in December and has already been linked with the New York Red Bulls by American media, who speculate the move would allow his former popstar wife Victoria to pursue a fashion career.

Despite the FFA's disclosure, three Australian clubs had already distanced themselves from the former Real Madrid, Manchester United and AC Milan midfielder.

"That's great if he is coming," Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou told local media. "Would we be interested? Nah."

Western Sydney Wanderers executive chairman Lyall Gorman told Fairfax Media: "If we were approached, we would go through the normal process.

"We've had no approaches at all. We don't speculate on those things until they come across our table."

Perth Glory denied any contact had been made but chief executive Paul Kelly said: "We would be mad not to seriously consider David Beckham."

Former internationals Del Piero, Heskey and Ono have all recently joined A-League clubs, the Italian, Englishman and Japanese boosting the profile of football Down Under.

Beckham has spent two MLS off-seasons in Italy's Serie A with AC Milan and almost joined England's Tottenham Hotspur on a similar two-month loan in January.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Recommended by Rediff.com

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email