Church of Scientology Built an Entire Soccer Field So Tom Cruise Could Woo David Beckham to Join, Per Report

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The Church of Scientology had an entire soccer field constructed for the sole purpose of helping their biggest star Tom Cruise try to woo David Beckham to join, according to a new book.

Former Scientology member Mike Rinder claimed in a new book titled A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology that Cruise was at one point working to recruit more celebrities to Scientology, which Rinder and multiple ex-members have described as a dangerous cult.

“A professional-grade soccer pitch was constructed on the property at Gold [Base, church headquarters in San Jacinto, Calif.]. The ground was leveled, irrigation installed, perfect turf, goals raised,” Rinder wrote, according to Page Six.

Rinder also claimed a full time caretaker for the field was hired, but the construction and maintenance had only one purpose.

“It was built for one purpose only: so Tom Cruise could woo his friend David to come to Gold. It never happened,” Rinder wrote.

A spokesperson for the Church of Scientology denied Rinder’s claim describing the ex-member as an “inveterate liar.”

“Mike Rinder is an inveterate liar who seeks to profit from his dishonesty. He supports himself by orchestrating the harassment of his former Church and its leader through false police reports, incendiary propaganda and fraudulent media stories,” the spokesperson said.

The church has denied past negative claims made by Rinder, mainly through the TV series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. The show includes fellow ex-member Leah Remini. Other former members like Crash director Paul Haggis have also appeared on the program.

Other new claims from Rinder on Cruise and his relationship to the church include the allegation that the church actually stepped in and asked Cruise’s wife Mimi Rogers for a divorce on his behalf.

Rinder alleged that Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige made it a church priority to get Cruise’s then wife to agree to a divorce while the actor was filming 1990’s Days of Thunder. The church also denied this claim, calling it “utterly ludicrous.”