Becks’ £150k private jet dash to save Cup

DAVID Beckham will fork out £50,000 to help England's faltering 2018 World Cup bid - by dashing to Cape Town to fly the flag for his country.
Desperate FA chiefs will pay £100,000 getting Beckham to South Africa in time for the prestigious 2010 World Cup draw next month.

But Becks, 34, will stump up the rest of the bill as he races from Germany where he will be touring with his US team LA Galaxy.

Up for the cup ... mock-up of Becks on trophy

He is answering a dramatic SOS from FA chiefs who are under heavy fire for their shambolic attempt to bring the finals to England for the first time since 1966.

The bid has been wracked by internal fighting - and suffered a stinging rebuke from influential FIFA executive Jack Warner.

In a desperate effort to get things back on track, the FA begged the former England skipper to fly from LA Galaxy's post-season tour on December 4 to add glitz and glamour to England's presence.

Under fire ... Lord Triesman.

They have pledged to pay £100,000 to lay on a private jet for Beckham and his security entourage, with Becks paying the rest. FA chairman Lord Triesman has suffered stinging criticism for his lacklustre leadership of the bid. He said: "The person most people want to meet is David, that is a matter of fact.

"He is very willing to be as generous with his time as his playing commitments allow him to be. "That will mean, knowing David and how patriotic he is, that he will be generous.

"He is very closely associated with a number of the legacy projects in Africa. "We will get a very big input from him and will absolutely try to use him as much as we can. "He's a fantastic ambassador. England runs right through the guy's bone marrow. "He loves the sport, he loves the idea that England can win this. He's a winner and believes we can win it."

He added: "Thank goodness, he is totally up for it. Of course we'll use him after Cape Town. He's a phenomenal asset." But Lord Triesman insisted he will remain England's bid leader.

He said: "I know people are very critical but I'm going to try to do my level best to prove them wrong."

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