No Action To Be Taken By FA
Thursday, October 14, 2004

David Beckham's future as England captain is assured after the Football Association (FA) made it clear there would be no action taken against him over his admission that he had deliberately fouled an opponent to get a convenient yellow card.

Despite widespread and severe criticism of Beckham's conduct, notably from Fifa president Sepp Blatter, the FA said it regarded an apology issued by the Real Madrid midfielder as sufficient to draw a line under the issue.

That stance was backed by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson after his side's 1-0 win over Azerbaijan on Wednesday.

"That's finished it here for ever," Eriksson said, adding that he had never doubted that Beckham would continue as England captain, despite the furore over his actions.

Beckham was suspended for Wednesday night's game as a result of the yellow card he received in Saturday's win over Wales.

He subsequently admitted he had deliberately fouled Ben Thatcher to get that yellow card because he knew that, minutes earlier, he had broken a rib and would be unable to travel to Azerbaijan anyway.

Eriksson, who had made it clear he believe Beckham's only mistake was to have been frank about his conduct, said he had never doubted that Beckham should carry on as captain. "No way - I never doubted that," he said.

By serving the suspension, Beckham has his slate wiped clean for the rest of the World Cup qualifying campaign rather than having to play later matches knowing he was just one booking away from a ban.

FA chairperson Geoff Thompson had earlier given Beckham a clear vote of confidence.

"The captain has possibly made an error of judgement but he has apologised for it," Thompson said. "Of course I think it's a good thing that he's given that apology."

Blatter said he was dismayed by Beckham's conduct. "Where are we going when football's ambassadors do not show fair play?" the Fifa supremo said.

"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 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."

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