Snoozing Best snubs soccer exhibition

Football legend George Best today delivered an embarrassing snub to the game’s governing body when he failed to turn up to open a centenary exhibition.

The former Northern Ireland and Manchester United star was said to be asleep in bed when he was due to perform duties at the FIFA display at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, which features dramatic photographs of some of the greatest living players.

Best, 58, had been expected to officially open the exhibition which includes 125 players hailed as “heroes of the beautiful game” as well as posing with the World Cup – one of the few prizes he failed to claim in a glittering career.

But his no-show embarrassed dignitaries at this afternoon’s event, which was attended by FIFA executive member, Seners Erziq.

Best's agent Phil Hughes said that the player had not agreed to attend the event and confirmed that his client was at home having a lie in.

He said: “We told the organisers it was highly unlikely that George could attend because he was working for BBC Radio 5 until late last night.

“Though I asked George if he wanted to conduct the exhibition opening over the weekend, he told me that he thought it would be too much for him and that he wanted to have a lie in.

“We think they contacted us at such short notice because another guest pulled out, it seemed strange to us that they would want George to pose with the World Cup, as it is the one tournament he was never able to play in.”

The exhibition features players chosen by Brazilian legend, Pele.

But the South American forward, perhaps the greatest footballer of all time, caused howls of protest when he overlooked several notable talents from across the globe.

He omitted Jairzinho and Gerson, both members of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning side, and England’s Geoff Hurst, the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final.

Despite the controversy, the exhibition is likely to be attended by thousands of fans, who will tour the provocative studies of household names caught in a variety of poses by a host of top photographers.

Among the striking images of various stars featured in the exhibition, open from tomorrow at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, is Eric Cantona, photographed by William Klein.

Cantona is stripped to the waist, his chest and stomach daubed with the typically cryptic thought – “You play to fight the idea of losing”.

There is a thought-provoking sequence of studies by Lord Lichfield of players such as Rivaldo and Marcel Desailly holding old-fashioned leather footballs in front of their chest.

And, by contrast, a futuristic effect is achieved by Marc Quinn, who photographed legends such as Pele, George Best and Zinedine Zidane with a reflective plastic football on their heads.

Quinn, based in Hoxton, east London, said: “Every good footballer can balance a ball on their head, but when you balance it, you’re moving your head.

“I asked them to hold the ball on their head, then I said 3-2-1 and they took their hands off, and it’s at that moment that the camera goes.

“Footballers are like saints in the modern world, so I wanted to capture them with an expression like you see in Renaissance paintings, looking up, and to the future, with an optimistic expression.

“I was very pleased to be involved, because so many people are interested in football who aren’t interested in art, so it gives me the chance to communicate with more people.”

David Beckham makes the list, photographed by Marc Hom, hands and football aloft as if he is about to take a throw-in, a sign in Spanish above him reminding the onlooker of where he now plies his trade.