February 6 – David Beckham’s reputation as a globally respected icon has been called into question by a series of unsubstantiated and reportedly hacked emails alleged to have been acquired by Football Leaks, sport’s equivalent of WikiLeaks, which claim the motivation for his renowned humanitarian work was partly in order to obtain a knighthood.
The emails, which several British and European publications say they have seen and which appear designed to damage Beckham’s philanthropic image, are said to include colourful language and purport to suggest Beckham had a cynical ulterior motive for his long and highly regarded involvement with the children’s charity Unicef.
But the 41-year-old former England captain, through his representatives, has reacted furiously to the claims insisting the emails were “hacked and doctored”.
Beckham has been a goodwill ambassador for Unicef since 2005 and in statement a spokesman for the former international football superstar and England captain was quoted as saying: ““This story is based on outdated material taken out of context from hacked and doctored private emails, from a third-party server, and gives a deliberately inaccurate picture.”
“David Beckham and UNICEF have had a powerful partnership in support of children for over 15 years … David and UNICEF are rightly proud of what they have and will continue to achieve together and are happy to let the facts speak for themselves.”
Some reports claim the highly sensitive material was released after Beckham’s advisers refused to give in to blackmail and were the work of cyber criminals, possibly using Russian servers, who somehow hacked the computer system of the sports agency run by Beckham’s PR chief.
The affair has been dubbed ‘Beckileaks’ in the British media with different papers taking up different perspectives. The Daily Mail dedicated four pages to what it termed the “shame of Saint Becks” but the Daily Mirror took the view that Beckham had been a victim of a blackmail plot to shame him.
Unicef also issued a statement saying it was “extremely proud” of its association with Beckham. While it could not comment on private correspondence, Beckham, it said, “as well as generously giving his time, energy and support to help raise awareness and funds for UNICEF’s work for children, has given significant funds personally.”
In 2003, Beckham was made an OBE for his services to football, the same that year that he moved from Manchester United to play for Real Madrid. He has immersed himself in a several high-profile campaigns in a raft of Third World countries tackling issues such as poor sanitation and malnutrition.
Unicef added that the so-called 7 Fund launched by Beckham in 2015 had “raised millions of pounds for Unicef programmes and reached millions of people around the world with crucial messages about our work for very vulnerable children.”
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