David Beckham, Football Ambassador to China

Dennis Rodman not only sports stars appear in strange places and offer support. David Beckham, 37, star of English football, just signed an ambassador for Chinese soccer (called football outside the U.S.). His duties will include attending the game in China and lending his star power to help make the game popular among Chinese youth, reports the BBC. "I am excited by the prospect of promoting the greatest game in the world for Chinese sports fans as I saw firsthand the growing interest in soccer there," Beckham said in a statement. Global A-list celebrity can help polish the image of football in China remains an open question. While basketball is made much admired celebrity in China, chief among them the most recognized football Yao Ming, China humiliating defeat and corruption. Sport has made several top former football referee, Chinese criminal now in prison for taking bribes to fix matches, and 58 other referees were banned from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). With current Chinese football is no real hero. Sports heroes are important because they can attract fans, and finally a sponsorship deal. Although now retired from basketball, Yao's face remains ubiquitous on television advertising, in China and abroad, for the dizzying array of products, including these mini-Oreos, Coke (I), Visa (V), Apple (AAPL), T-Mobile, and Nuvi personal travel assistant. Currently, Beckham is expected to praise the utopian aspect of his new mission. "It is a great sport that inspires people around the world and bringing the family together, so I enjoyed the opportunity to introduce more fans to the game," read the statement. He continued to play football for a team Paris Saint-Germain in France.