Fifa president Sepp Blatter has blasted David Beckham for shaming the game for his decision to seek a yellow card during England’s clash with Wales on Saturday.
The Real Madrid midfielder claims he set out to pick up his second booking of the current World Cup qualifying campaign after suffering a rib injury earlier in the Old Trafford match.
Realising he would miss Wednesday’s game against Azerbaijan anyway, Beckham was happy to incur a one-match ban by producing a reckless challenge on Ben Thatcher.
By serving the suspension, Beckham has his slate wiped clean for the rest of the campaign rather than having to play later matches knowing he was just one booking away from a ban.
The 29-year-old is reported to have already apologised to England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson over his actions.
”Where are we going when football’s ambassadors do not show fair play?” Blatter asked The Sun newspaper.
”David Beckham is a role model for young children, an ambassador of football and an ambassador of fair play. I will speak with the leadership of the FA [Football Association] and I will ask them to investigate and give us a report.
”All players should show fair play and should not make sure they are booked, then publicly say, ‘I did it deliberately.’
”This is the captain of the English team and he should have acted in a better way, especially because all the attention is focused on him.
He called on the FA to launch an urgent probe into the confession.
”It is not for me to decide if he should stay as England captain. But something is definitely wrong.” — Sapa-AFP