David Beckham’s trip to the World Cup draw in Cape Town to woo Fifa’s voters will cost £150,000, although England’s World Cup 2018 bidders will have to pay only about half that amount.
Their estimated £70,000 contribution, which initially attracted some opposition on the board, will be money well spent if it finally brings positive headlines to England’s troubled bid.
Beckham’s trip is coming at vast expense because he is on tour in Germany with the Los Angeles Galaxy in the days leading up to the draw on December 4.
To maximise how much time he can spend with Fifa’s executive committee members, Beckham will need to fly by private jet from Gelsenkirchen at a cost of £130,000.
The bid is paying £50,000 towards that fare, with the rest made up by Beckham, who is working for the bid for free, and by the private airline company.
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The bid must pay for Beckham’s security men to fly over and for the accommodation and other costs while he is in South Africa.
It is an expensive operation but Lord Triesman is confident that it will prove worthwhile given Beckham’s global stature and the eagerness of the Fifa voters to meet him.
“There are certainly a number of people who they [Fifa] want to meet and the person whom I suspect most want to meet is David,” he said.
“He is very willing to be as generous with his time as he can . . . as his playing commitments allow him to be. He is very patriotic and I think that means he will be very generous.
“We want to use him as much as possible. I think he’s a fantastic ambassador. England runs right through the guy’s bone marrow.
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“He loves the sport, he loves the idea that England can win this.
“He’s a winner and he believes we can win it.
“We’ve committed ourselves to ensuring that he gets there [Cape Town] not just in the full time span but also so we can look after his security and the arrangements in a way which reflects the fact that he is a personality in world football. It’s not a question of luxury.
“He’s a phenomenal asset. And thank goodness, he’s totally up for it.”
England’s bid is not helped by the lack of a leading footballing personality who is also articulate and persuasive, but then few countries have a Platini or Beckenbauer.
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Beckham, who will visit a township project on his trip, proved very useful in clinching late votes for London 2012.
The 2018 hierarchy is hopeful he can do the same with Fifa as he did with the International Olympic Committee.
The bid team will attempt to put him before as many of the floating voters as it can, with Africa’s four committee members high on the list.