Beckham needs to be more prominent in England bid for 2018 World Cup

England's much criticised bid for the 2018 World Cup will need to promote David Beckham to an even more senior role if they are to have a chance to win the contest, according to the man who won the 2010 World Cup for South Africa, reports the Daily Mail.

Dr Danny Jordaan, chief executive of South Africa 2010 and a hugely influential figure in FIFA circles, is urging England to revamp their strategy and make more use of Beckham, who is an ambassador for the 2018 bid but can only perform a limited role because of his playing schedule.

Jordaan said: "David Beckham is quite influential in world football and that is what the England bid for 2018 needs — a personality. We had a Nelson Mandela.

"You need that. ‘You must ask yourself, "Who is the person, or who are those persons, that people around the world would like to have a photo with?"

"Clearly, in our case, everyone wanted a photo opportunity with Nelson Mandela.

"So if we approached people and said, “We are coming to see you and Nelson Mandela is coming with us” then the answer was, “Yes, of course. We are available".'

"The date becomes immediately available if you have someone like Mandela. If you say, "Nelson Mandela is not available on this date; he is available on this date", people say, "No, no I’m fine. I’m available."

"So you have to look at what is your trigger. Beckham clearly is one such person."