David Beckham plans the ultimate football tour in new travel documentary for BBC1
Beckham plans to play seven football matches in seven continents in a one-off documentary, from a mountain village in Nepal to a frozen pitch in Antarctica
David Beckham's going globetrotting again for BBC1, planning a football tour that will see the former England star play seven football matches in seven different continents.
Whether penguins in Antarctica will be as pleased to see Becks as South American street soccer players remains to be seen, but the one-off programme titled Beckham: For the Love of The Game aims to show the global power of football as "a force for good".
The 90-minute single documentary will visit Papua New Guinea (Oceania), Nepal (Asia), Buenos Aires (South America), Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, Miami in North America and frozen Antarctica.
The tour will finish in Europe and Old Trafford, where Beckham will play in a match featuring a number of international stars he played for and against during his career.
“I remember sitting on a plane and discussing this idea with friends and never thinking it would become a reality," Beckham said. "I’m genuinely excited now we can realise this ambitious idea.
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"Whether as a player or out in the field for UNICEF and other charitable partners, I have seen the transformational effect that sport and in particular football has on people’s lives. This epic journey will allow me to show the positive side of the game I love and shine a light on the passion and selflessness of people that play this sport as a force for good.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOnfl8GSUM
Last year Beckham travelled to the Amazon jungle for BBC1 documentary Into The Unknown. He said at the time he was keen to do another travel project, and received the backing of none other than Michael Palin, even if he joked that parts of the show were "more David Beckham than David Attenborough".
The new film is jointly commissioned for BBC1 by BBC Worldwide and the BBC from 7 Games and Big Earth Productions.