David Beckham’s stint with English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur descended further into farce on Thursday when the England midfielder was barred from playing in a training game.The Galaxy took a hard line from the outset, insisting that under the terms of his contract – which only has one season left – he must report back in California for preseason training on Feb. 10.
Now Major League Soccer’s most famous team has taken things a step further by refusing to allow the 35-year-old to take part in a practice match against squad players from second-tier English team Queens Park Rangers.
However, according to sources close to the club and a report in the Guardian newspaper, the Galaxy told Tottenham that Beckham did not have permission to take the field due to an ongoing insurance dispute. The two parties have not been able to agree on who should pay the insurance premium that protects the Galaxy against financial loss if he is injured.
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp told the English media last week that Beckham had been given the all-clear to take part in full practice games. “(Beckham) can just join in and train properly,” Redknapp told the Guardian’s David Hytner.
Beckham’s spokesman Simon Oliveira claimed early on Friday that the player had not planned to take part in the training game, and had no interest in doing so.
source: Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports
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