David Beckham's bid for a Major League Soccer team has suffered a setback with the city of Miami rejecting his plan to build a downtown waterfront stadium on a site next to the Miami Heat basketball arena.
Beckham's business group, Beckham Miami United, issued a statement saying city officials determined the proposed site was an "inappropriate location."
The statement said Beckham's group would "spend the coming months weighing alternatives."
Beckham has spent the last few months exploring the creation of a soccer franchise in Miami and stressed the importance of a downtown stadium location.
It was the second waterfront site proposed by Beckham's group to run into local resistance.
The group headed by the former England, Manchester United and Real Madrid star needs to ink a stadium deal before it can win final approval for the franchise from MLS, the top professional league in the United States.
Beckham's group has agreed to finance a 312 million dollar stadium with seating for 20,000 and to pay rent for the stadium, which it has sought to build on public land.
