David Beckham's plan to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to Miami has been dealt a blow after the city's mayor, Tomás Regalado, previously a key ally in the project, said no to the construction of a stadium at a prime waterfront site. Beckham's investment group, which includes the entertainment impresario Simon Fuller and the Bolivian telecoms billionaire Marcelo Claure, said it would pause to consider its options, one of which will presumably be withdrawing from the project altogether.
"We presented a strong proposal for the site suggested to us by the two mayors [Regalado and the Miami-Dade county mayor, Carlos Giménez]," the group, Miami Beckham United, said in a statement after a meeting on Tuesday with city officials in Miami.
"Our package was the most equitable soccer stadium proposal that Miami, or any other city in America, has ever seen, 100% privately funded without any local taxpayers' money.
"Our team will now pause and weigh alternatives. The people of Miami deserve a team and stadium that they will be proud of for decades to come."
