贝克汉姆或将点燃伦敦奥运会开幕式圣火

　　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。

　　作为目前名气最大的英国足球明星，贝克汉姆被踢出英国国奥队曾引起轩然大波，但这并不代表小贝将缺席奥运会，据来自英国媒体的最新消息称，贝克汉姆有可能担任英国代表团在奥运会开幕式上的旗手，或将亲手点燃奥运圣火，英国奥组委希望借此来表达对小贝在申办奥运方面做出的巨大贡献。

　　英国申办奥运会时，贝克汉姆曾作为形象大使为最终申办成功付出了巨大的努力，而他在本届奥运会上的最大梦想，就是渴望以球员身份代表英国国奥队出战。国奥主帅皮尔斯本来将贝克汉姆列入了35人大(微博)名单，但最终在遴选18人名单时却将他剔除，这也让小贝的梦想沦为泡影。皮尔斯此举也引来前英格兰主帅埃里克森的炮轰：“他是一位旗帜，不管以哪种方式，他都应该融入到奥运会当中来。”

　　或许是埃里克森的话刺激到了英国奥组委的神经。据来自英国《独立报》的独家消息称，英国奥组委主席塞巴斯蒂安-科伊已经承诺，将会为小贝在奥运会上安排一个新的角色。该报表示，在英国申办奥运会的时候，贝克汉姆利用自己的人脉和对外形象积极拉票，而在随后的奥运会门票出售环节，小贝又以自己的影响力促进了英国民众现场观看奥运的热情。

　　《独立报》称，接下来奥组委将讨论英国奥运代表团的旗手，以及点燃奥运会主火炬的人选，这对于任何运动员来说都是值得铭记一生的特殊时刻，而英国奥组委主席塞巴斯蒂安-科伊已经提名让小贝担任这个角色。