Miami has rejected former England football captain David Beckham’s plan to build a football stadium on a city waterfront.
The city determined the proposed location next to a major basketball arena was “inappropriate”.
Beckham wants to establish a Major League Soccer club in Miami but has faced opposition from various groups including one led by ex-Royal Caribbean head of governmental affairs John Fox.
His business group, Beckham Miami United, has said it will continue to pursue alternative locations.
The group is required to finalise a stadium deal before it can win approval from MLS, the US professional football league, to open a club.
An earlier proposal for a waterfront stadium site also experienced local resistance from cruise lines.
Scrutiny of the deal rose sharply after the city provided $500 million in public funding to build a new stadium for the Miami Marlins baseball team.
Public anger over that deal is said to have contributed to a 2011 vote ousting the former Miami-Dade County mayor from office, the BBC reported
Beckham Miami United has agreed to finance a $250 million stadium – expected to seat an estimated 20,000 spectators – and pay rent on the publicly owned land.
His partners in the project include British entrepreneur Simon Fuller and mobile phone services billionaire Marcelo Claure.