England's cash-stretched 2018 World Cup bid could be saved a £50,000 bill to fly David Beckham to South Africa next month after Los Angeles Galaxy cancelled their tour of Germany.
The England midfielder would have had to take a private jet to fly from Germany to Cape Town to make it in time for the bid presentations, and the Football Association had agreed to fund around half the cost.
Now the Galaxy have pulled out of their friendlies against Kaiserslautern and Schalke, Beckham should be able to travel on a scheduled flight
.An England 2018 spokesman said: "We have heard the tour has been cancelled. David Beckham is still coming to South Africa and travel arrangements are now being looked at."
Finances remain a major issue for the bid with the Government only offering a £2.5million loan towards the £15million budget - they had been expected to contribute £5million.
The Galaxy cancelled the tour due to "a lack of communication and performance" by the promoter IMC Group.
The club said in a statement: "Unfortunately, IMC Group Inc has not performed their obligations of the agreement thus far, nor do we have faith that they will be able to do so in the future."
