David Beckham's minders have banned foreign media from his promotional events in Asia to shield the England soccer captain from questions about his expectant transfer from Manchester United.

　　Beckham will arrive in Tokyo today to film commercials and then embark on a flying trip to Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand to do some promotional work for Castrol oil.

　　The public relations firm handling Beckham's appearance in Ho Chi Minh City on June 25 said that Beckham would be off limits to the foreign press, although local Vietnamese journalists might have some access.

　　"As of now, international journalists will not have access to David Beckham, but they can witness the event from the stands," said Nguyen Thanh Son, managing director of T&A Communications, said.

　　No cameras of any kind would be allowed into the stadium, said Son, adding that the same restrictions would likely apply in Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

　　A spokesman for the firm that is coordinating publicity for the three-nation southeast Asian tour said Beckham's agent, SFX, had imposed the blanket ban on non-local journalists attending the scheduled promotional events.

　　In Vietnam, a country of 80 million where soccer is the No 1 sport and where few international celebrities make stops, Beckham's visit was being promoted by huge signs in Ho Chi Minh City nearly a month ago.

　　Meanwhile, FC Barcelona said it is still hopeful that Beckham would join the club but would abandon its attempt to sign England captain unless it received a positive response from him in the next few days.

　　The club said it hopes to speak to the England captain in the next day or two. But Juan Jose Castillo, press secretary for new president Joan Laporta said that negotiations would not be allowed to run indefinitely.

　　"We're not going to wait a long time. We have to know his intentions. If he doesn't want to come, he'll tell us that clearly. But if he's interested, we won't have to decide right away," Castillo said. He described the project of Laporta, who swept to power on Sunday on his pledge to woo Beckham to Barcelona, as "more interesting than Madrid's".

　　"Madrid is full of stars. But here we'll consider him more important. He's going to be the leader of our new project. If he considers that, then we're sure he'll come," he added.

　　A Beckham rejection would appear to leave the way clear for its archrival Real Madrid to attempt to sign Beckham. News reports in England and Spain have recently said that the England captain favors a move to Madrid. The leading sports daily Marca said yesterday that the deal would be completed within 10 days.

　　Madrid's sports director Jorge Valdano said that his club would not discuss issue until the Spanish season is completed next Sunday. But El Mundo newspaper said that Madrid had offered 25 million euros (US.2 million) plus a player to United. It says that the player could be Geremi, although "United prefers Guti".