Ethics commission investigating Beckham Miami soccer team deal
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A South Florida ethics commission is probing whether ex-soccer star David Beckham – and his partners –broke local law by meeting with public officials during their research into starting a Miami-based soccer team.
The Miami Herald reports the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust is specifically investigating the propriety of Beckham having dined with Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez without having first registered as a lobbyist before pitching the politician on a proposal that would require official action.
Earlier this month, Beckham confirmed he had exercised an option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami for a discount fee of $25 million.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The deal will be finalized when the former English national team captain can secure a financing plan and location for a new stadium.
Beckham’s dinner with Gimenez reportedly occurred on Nov. 12 at the home of Miami-based billionaire investor Marcelo Claure. The Herald reports Beckham’s business partner, Simon Fuller, also attended.
Miami-Dade County law stipulates, according to The Herald, that anyone who “seek(s) to influence an ordinance, resolution, action, decision or recommendation,” on the part of a local public official must register as a lobbyist within five days of a pitch or proposal.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Beckham spokesman has since said Beckham did not – at that particular moment– need to register as a lobbyist because everyone concerned only spoke of the possibility of bringing an MLS team to Miami in generalities.
“He was checking the city out and seeing what was here — the same way as if the president of IBM came to town and said, ‘Hmm, am I interested in coming to this town?’ “ Neisen Kasdin told The Herald. “There was no proposed site.”
Kasdin also told the newspaper that Beckham and his associates only began asking about the possibility of situating a new stadium at PortMiami after the dinner occurred, or later in November. Five other sites are also reportedly being considered.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The existence of an ethics investigation was first reported by the local Spanish-language blog Nelson Horta Reporta, according to The Herald.