No £3m Beckham deal

THE English and South African football associations yesterday launched an investigation into the origin of claims that they had struck a secret £3m deal to ensure David Beckham’s participation in last week’s friendly.

Both sides yesterday angrily denied that any such arrangement had been made following banner headlines in several newspapers yesterday.

Danny Jordaan, the man at the centre of the storm, swiftly dismissed the allegations to confirm the FA’s insistence overnight that there was no truth to the stories.