MUMBAI: Soccer icon David Beckham is joining British pay TV service provider Sky as an ambassador work to support grassroots sport and encourage participation across Britain and Ireland.

During this long-term partnership, Beckham will also feature in ads to promote sport and services offered by Sky.

In his role as a Sky ambassador, he will help to use the power of sport to change lives through the Sky Sports Living for Sport initiative. Now in its tenth year, this free initiative uses the stories and expertise of athlete mentors to inspire young people to learn new skills and improve their lives. Around 30,000 young people a year participate in the programme, which reaches one third of all secondary schools in Britain and has just launched in Ireland. Beckham is managed by Simon Fuller’s XIX Entertainment.

In joining Sky, Beckham teams up with other sporting icons part of the company’s support for British sport and grassroots participation. They include Olympic gold medalist Jessica Ennis CBE, who became an ambassador for Sky Sports last year; Sir David Brailsford, Principal of Team Sky and the architect behind the exceptional performance of British Cycling; and Sir Bradley Wiggins, five times Olympic gold medalist and first ever British winner of the Tour de France.

Beckham said, “Sky have followed my career since I broke into the Manchester United first team. They have done a huge amount to promote and encourage involvement in sport in Britain and I am delighted to be joining them. I have always been passionate about the importance of sport in the lives of young people. It is not all about winning - just getting involved in sport gives you confidence and skills for life. I was lucky to have some amazing role models when I was younger, and I am excited about the opportunity to work with Sky to pass on some of that knowledge to the next generation.”

Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said, “It is great to welcome David to Sky. Sport is at the heart of what we do and both we and David believe in its power to excite, inspire and change lives. As a hero and inspiration on and off the field, David is a perfect ambassador to help us get more people involved in sport.”