When Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain play each other, there is usually a lot of tension on the pitch. What with two teams built with football stars and strong personalitites like Diego Costa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on either side.
But in the second leg of the Round of 16 Champions League tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, there was tension in the stands when David Beckham was in attendance. Beckham and his 17-year-old son Brooklyn were at the Bridge to watch the epic encounter and were, obviously, supporting PSG.
The former Manchester United star finished his career with the Ligue 1 club in 2013, playing the second half of the 2012/13 season. What made his stint with the capital club notable was that he donated all his wages to a local children’s charity, something he was “excited and proud to do”.
Beckham only played 10 games for the club as he also announced his retirement from football at the age of 37. He was well-respected by the players and fans with the club even handing him the captain’s armband for his final game.
Security stepped in to defuse situation
Beckham was in the directors’ box for the second leg and when PSG took the lead through Adrien Rabiot, both he and his son were seen celebrating and applauding the goal. Brooklyn had reportedly jumped out of his seat when PSG went 1-0 up.
Joe Hemani, a computer entrepreneur and Chelsea vice-president for over three decades, was unhappy with the celebration and allegedly argued with the Beckhams when they applauded the goal.
Beckham reportedly remained calm and composed throughout the ordeal with the security staff stepping in to ensure nothing untoward took place. Although the club confirmed an incident took place in the directors’ box, they denied that Hemani had insulted the Beckhams either vocally or with any gestures. They claim that Hemani only asked the two Beckhams to calm down.
It was also reported that there was another exchange of words between the two when the Beckhams walked past Hemani at half-time and that they also ran into each other during the break when the score read 1-1.
But there were no other incidents even after PSG took the lead in the second half and won the tie 4-2 on aggregate courtesy of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic winner.
