David Beckham was reportedly passed over for a knighthood after his tax affairs led to him being given a red flag.

Reports emerged over the weekend that the former England football captain had gone on a four-letter rant after missing out on the honour, and he has since responded to the claims in a dignified statement. And now, while there is no indication that the 41-year-old broke any laws, the Daily Mirror reports that a 'reputational risk' was behind the decision from the honours committee. This is why - despite Beckham's charity work with Unicef making him a candidate for the honour in question, he was ultimately denied a knighthood.

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Citing 'honours sources', the paper suggests an HMRC warning made the committee wary of giving agreen light to knight the former footballer. “For anybody who is being considered for an honour, we got advice on the reputational risk on relation to their tax affairs,” an anonymous source is quoted as saying. “It is ranked red, amber and green. And if it is red, the general rule is you do not give them an honour.” It seems Beckham's knighthood was all but approved before the HMRC's interference, but that the red flag ultimately made it impossible for the award to be made.