London: David Beckham is keen to help England in its bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
The former England captain, who played a high-profile role promoting London's ultimately successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, met with Gordon Brown on Thursday and expressed his interest in becoming a bid ambassador to the British Prime Minister.
"I was proud to be involved in 2012 and being involved in 2018 is something I would be very interested in too," the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder said. "Being English, to bring the World Cup back to England would be something really special and I would be honored to be involved in that."
The 32-year-old Beckham, who had a one-hour private meeting with Brown at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, gave the Prime Minister a guided tour of his east London football academy on Thursday.
Brown has already spoken in support of England hosting the 2018 showpiece.
"David Beckham is known in every part of the world," Brown said. "It's a matter for the FA (Football Association), but I'm sure David Beckham will be associated with every big sports campaign that happens in this country because of his reputation, and because of the fame and the respect he has worldwide."
Beckham was in the country because he has been training with Premier League leader Arsenal to get fit for the Major League football season in the United States.
Brown said he hoped Beckham's healthy lifestyle would be emulated by British children, with his deeds on the field inspiring them to play sport.
"You don't have to be brilliant at sport to benefit from this and you can see what the kids are taking in about nutrition, diet and fitness," Brown said. "You can see from the kids that they are listening to what David says.
"He has support right across the country and what he does as an ambassador for sport generally is something we should be proud of."
Brown added that he wanted to see the creation of similar schemes to Beckham's academy being set up around the county, helping reach the Government's target for all children to have five hours of sport a week in schools.
Beckham said 20,000 children had attended the academy for free through their schools
"It may not happen in exactly the same way as this academy," Brown said. "We could have coaches in different areas, we could attach to schools and other facilities.
"It's the key to a fit nation, the key to a competitive nation, and the key to an Olympic nation."
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