By Jonathan McEvoy

PUBLISHED: 17:01 EST, 2 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:01 EST, 2 July 2012


Stuart Pearce has dealt David Beckham a final Olympic snub by denying him any role within Team GB.

As expected, Beckham was left out of the 18-man squad named at Wembley.

Pearce then said there would be no role in his backroom staff for the former  England captain and ruled out naming him as one of four stand-by players.

Not selected: Stuart Pearce decided not to bring David Beckham to the Games

Not selected: Stuart Pearce decided not to bring David Beckham to the Games

In fact, so frosty are relations between the pair that Beckham is the only discard from the original 35-strong shortlist Pearce has not talked to about the stand-by situation.

Pearce, who hinted that Ryan Giggs will be chosen as captain, said: ‘I’ve not spoken to David. I’ve spoken to every other player. I’ve just not got round to doing it yet.’

It raises the suspicion that Pearce’s phone call to Beckham in Los Angeles last week, in which he told the 37-year-old that he was out of his plans, was brief rather than friendly.

He also said that it ‘makes more sense’ to make the four stand-bys Under 23 players rather than an overage pick like Beckham. ‘That will give us more options,’ he said.

As for including the former Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan star in his backroom staff, Pearce said: ‘We only have seven passes for that. We have no passes for  anyone else.

Boss: Pearce said he picked on merit not sentimentality

Boss: Pearce said he picked on merit not sentimentality

‘The players have to be  prepared to come through the door on form alone and that happens to be the case with staffing too. They have their role to play.’

Pearce was unapologetically unsentimental in explaining Beckham’s omission, a decision so controversial that it caused consternation at the FA, Lord Coe’s Olympic organisers, LOCOG, and the British  Olympic Association, when it leaked out last week.

All three bodies had wished to cash in on his celebrity and  profile, as well as reward him for helping win the bid for London.

‘Right through this process I have had carte blanche to pick whatever players I regard as best,’ said Pearce.

‘Form plays a big part and I don’t think there is a manager around who picks on sentiment. I have to be comfortable when I have made decisions based solely on football grounds alone, nothing else.’

That's as close as you'll get: Beckham will not be taking part in the Olympics

That's as close as you'll get: Beckham will not be taking part in the Olympics

BOA chief executive and Team GB chef de mission, Andy Hunt, sitting next to Pearce, said it was up to the manager to select the team as he saw fit, but added: ‘I think I learned (about the Beckham decision) at the same time as everybody else, by the press release (from the player’s management).

‘In an ideal world I would have liked to have learned earlier but in all good partnerships, and this is a partnership, sometimes things don’t quite go to plan. But we are working together to make sure that the men’s and women’s teams have the best possible chance at the Games.’

Pearce was adamant from the start that he wanted to be his own man, a singular position that was reinforced when he was excluded from Hodgson’s backroom staff for Euro 2012.

He is a man apart at the FA — even spurning travel with the official delegation to fly to and from Ukraine to watch England’s match against France on a budget airline with fans.

In the firing line: Pearce was grilled at a press conference at Wembley

In the firing line: Pearce was grilled at a press conference at Wembley

He claimed that FA chairman David Bernstein allowed him a free hand. Really, all parties assumed he would read the script without them needing to spell it out to him.

He named 13 English players in the squad plus five Welshmen — but no Scots or Northern Irish.

Giggs is joined by Liverpool’s Craig Bellamy and Manchester City’s Micah Richards to make up the three over-23 names allowed in the squad.

Pearce dismissed Richards’ refusal to go on stand-by for England as irrelevant to his selection. Again, he said he picked him ‘on form alone’.

His curious decision to watch Beckham in America three times — given he was unlikely to garner any fresh information about the world’s most scrutinised footballer — raised the question when he finally decided he was not up to it. He did not answer that.

Great Britain begin their campaign against Senegal at Old Trafford on July 26. Already, denuded of Beckham, Pearce is in danger of turning the tournament into a damp squib.