David Beckham’s plans for a football stadium on the Miami waterfront have been rejected after the US city deemed the proposed location “inappropriate,” leaving the former footballer’s Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise plan in tatters.
Plans were afoot to build a US$200m (€145m, £120m), 25,000-seat football stadium for Beckham’s new MLS franchise, but proposed plans fell through after the city vetoed the construction of a stadium at a prime waterfront site.
The rejection is the second in the space of a month for the former England football captain, who had plans rejected for a similar proposal at the port of Miami, which collapsed in the face of public opposition.
The project, which would have involved filling in a disused deep-water slipway and the creation of a "grand waterfront park", was suggested to Beckham's group in May, quickly becoming the favoured option when it became clear that opposition to the port plan from the Royal Caribbean cruise line and a maritime workers' alliance would prove a substantial obstacle to overcome.
Mayor Tomás Regalado, previously a strong supporter of the project, said he had changed his mind about the waterfront site and considered it inappropriate for a football stadium after seeking the opinions of local residents, leaving Beckham’s investment group to consider the options available to it – one of which would be withdrawing from Miami altogether.
Beckham is said not to be interested in an inland option, leaving Miami with no remaining waterfront options available for the proposed stadium. The return of an MLS team to Miami for the first time since 2002 is, seemingly for now, off the cards.
