貝克漢姆或將點燃倫敦奧運會開幕式聖火

David Beckham, snubbed by coach Stuart Pearce for Britain's Olympic football squad, will still play a starring role in the 2012 Games.

Carrying the Team GB flag or lighting the Olympic flame are among the options to be discussed by Lord Coe's organising committee and the British Olympic Association in the next few days, with both bodies – like the Football Association – shocked and disappointed at the 37-year-old former England captain's exclusion as one of the three permitted over-age players.

Coe, irked at being deprived of the opportunity to reward Beckham for his friend's vote-catching role in winning the Games, as well as to boost flagging football ticket sales, has promised a prominent part for him at the opening ceremony.

It is possible that the BOA could nominate him as a special attaché to the 550-strong Team GB, which would allow him to wear the uniform, march in the parade or even carry the flag, a role traditionally given to an outstanding competitor.

Alternatively bookmakers have now installed him at 2-1 to light the cauldron, behind only odds-on favourite Sir Steve Redgrave, the five-times Olympic rowing gold medallist. The pair could even do it in tandem alongside other established Olympic icons such as Dame Kelly Holmes, Daley Thompson and Coe himself.

Whatever part Beckham plays, it is certain to be more than a token ambassadorial one, although the debate rages on as to whether he has been axed on merit, or is the victim of a selection bias in the same vein as jilted taekwondo star Aaron Cook, who only this week gave up his own legal battle to overturn his omission.

Pearce has chosen Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards as his over-age players, picking Richards ahead of Beckham because he wanted extra cover in defence. Others expected to make the squad are fringe internationals like Tom Cleverley, Daniel Sturridge, Ryan Bertrand and Birmingham City goalkeeper Jack Butland, the one player available for selection despite having been at the European Championships. Gareth Bale is likely to miss out with a back injury but his Welsh team-mate Aaron Ramsey is expected to be chosen in the squad of 18, which may not feature any players from Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Great Britain's first group match is against Senegal at Old Trafford on 26 July, the day before the official Games opening ceremony.

【新聞快訊】

作爲目前名氣最大的英國足球明星，貝克漢姆被踢出英國國奧隊曾引起軒然大波，但這並不代表小貝將缺席奧運會，據來自英國媒體的最新消息稱，貝克漢姆有可能擔任英國代表團在奧運會開幕式上的旗手，或將親手點燃奧運聖火，英國奧組委希望藉此來表達對小貝在申辦奧運方面做出的巨大貢獻。

英國申辦奧運會時，貝克漢姆曾作爲形象大使爲最終申辦成功付出了巨大的努力，而他在本屆奧運會上的最大夢想，就是渴望以球員身份代表英國國奧隊出戰。國奧主帥皮爾斯本來將貝克漢姆列入了35人大名單，但最終在遴選18人名單時卻將他剔除，這也讓小貝的夢想淪爲泡影。皮爾斯此舉也引來前英格蘭主帥埃裏克森的炮轟：“他是一位旗幟，不管以哪種方式，他都應該融入到奧運會當中來。”

或許是埃裏克森的話刺激到了英國奧組委的神經。據來自英國《獨立報》的獨家消息稱，英國奧組委主席塞巴斯蒂安-科伊已經承諾，將會爲小貝在奧運會上安排一個新的角色。該報表示，在英國申辦奧運會的時候，貝克漢姆利用自己的人脈和對外形象積極拉票，而在隨後的奧運會門票出售環節，小貝又以自己的影響力促進了英國民衆現場觀看奧運的熱情.

《獨立報》稱，接下來奧組委將討論英國奧運代表團的旗手，以及點燃奧運會主火炬的人選，這對於任何運動員來說都是值得銘記一生的特殊時刻，而英國奧組委主席塞巴斯蒂安-科伊已經提名讓小貝擔任這個角色。