David Beckham, arguably the most famous footballer player in the world, has admitted that he prefers watching live rugby, because there is “no nastiness” among opposing fans when going to watch games in stadiums.

40 year old Beckham, who retired in 2013 from the sport that made him an international superstar after a playing career than lasted over decades, was speaking to the special Christmas edition of the Radio Times about his UNICEF-backed charity fund ‘7’ as he made the intriguing revelation.

David Beckham Victoria BeckhamDavid and Victoria Beckham in November 2015

Though he didn’t expand much upon what specifically led him to feel uneasy about live football, he waxed lyrical about how much he had enjoyed visiting Twickenham, the home of English rugby, during the last few years. “I love rugby – I love watching it and I love the whole thing. I have enjoyed going to Twickenham more than I have enjoyed watching football.”

When asked more, he said it was all about the fans and the atmosphere created - “People sitting together with no nastiness.”

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He said that he remembered going to White Hart Lane to watch Tottenham Hotspur play Manchester United was “never nice”, because “you felt uneasy”.

Earlier this year, the father of four revealed that he had mixed emotions when his 13 year old son Romeo told him that he didn’t want to get involved in football. “Part of me was devastated but part of me was relieved, too,” he told ABC News back in September.

Beckham also spoke a bit about the current scandals surrounding the sport’s governing body FIFA, and urged caution in believing that everything would be fixed quickly. “No – they are just hitting the bend,” he said. “There's a lot still to be done. It's such a mess that it's going to take a while to sort out. For me to see the game, the way it's been treated and looked after, is devastating. It's disgusting.”

However, he remains fundamentally optimistic about the future for the sport. “World football has had a hell of a lot of negative press. I'm not trying to help them out but I want to show the good that football can do.”

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