The Miami-Dade Commission voted on Tuesday to approve a deal to sell David Beckham’s group nearly three acres of county land, representing a major hurdle cleared in the former England and Manchester United star’s push to bring a Major League Soccer team to the city. The commissioners voted nine to four in favor to ratify a recommendation by the mayor to sell Beckham’s partnership a county truck-depot at the corner of Northwest Sixth Street and Sixth Avenue, which would become the last piece in a nine-acre site for a planned 25,000-seat stadium on the Miami River. “By purchasing the last piece of land needed for our privately-funded stadium, Miami Beckham United (MBU) is http://www.officialathleticshop.com/authentic-8-jed-lowrie-jersey.html achieving another major milestone on the way to Major League Soccer formally awarding Miami a franchise,” read a statement from MBU. “[The group has] assembled a world-class team of partners, presented a vision for building the premier soccer club in the Americas, and assembled the land needed to build our stadium. Now is the time for MLS to move forward in helping us deliver the soccer club that Miami has been waiting for.” Beckham’s group will pay just over $9 million for the last piece of land. It has already paid $19 million for the other six acres needed. Beckham’s group says the planned stadium would be privately funded, and the stadium would also be subject to county property tax. It’s a major development in what has been at times an arduously slow – and often frustrating – process for the English soccer icon and his plans for Miami. MLS has not officially awarded Miami an expansion franchise, because of the lack of a land and stadium deal. A contract he signed in 2007 with the Los Angeles Galaxy gave Beckham the right to start an expansion franchise for $25 million, and in 2013 he picked Miami as where he would want to put a team. The plan has changed many times along the way, most notably because he was unable to get waterfront land that his group first coveted for a stadium site. Advertisement “I will tell you this is probably the best site we have found, for many respects,” Beckham group attorney Neisen Kasdin said, before listing reasons that include the site’s proximity to several modes of public transportation and the Miami River. The vote in Miami on Beckham’s land deal was preceded by several members of the community urging http://www.officialathleticshop.com/authentic-8-joe-morgan-jersey.html commissioners to vote no, mostly citing noise and traffic concerns. “This land has been an eyesore for years. ... Something needs to be done with it, now,” said commissioner Audrey Edmonson, who represents the neighborhood where the stadium is planned. The deal that allowed the Miami Marlins to get a new taxpayer-built ballpark on the former Orange Bowl site is still the source of major contention for the city and the county. There’s also skepticism about the Beckham group’s plan to build a stadium with no on-site parking, with plans instead to rely on shuttles, walking and public transportation. “As far as sports deals go with the county, this one isn’t so bad,” commissioner Joe Martinez said. Beckham is not the only soccer name pursuing MLS expansion these days; Landon Donovan has joined the ownership group that is hoping to bring a team to San Diego. It has not been easy going for either. The victory for Beckham came just one day after San Diego’s city council decided not to finance a special election that would have brought plans of building a new soccer complex there to a vote. In a pair of tweets, Donovan wrote that “we have to respect the process” and that “just because we’re down at halftime doesn’t mean we stop tryingTurkey’s captain, Arda Turan, has announced that he is quitting the team following a bust-up with a reporter on the flight back from a friendly international C.J. Wilcox Authentic Jersey in Macedonia. Fashioned out of kitten eyebrows interweaved with rhino ear-hair Read more The Barcelona midfielder admitted he had made a mistake while representing his country, and was ending a career with the national team after 94 caps and 17 goals. But he said he did not regret the clash with Milliyet reporter on the flight after Turkey drew 0-0 on Monday, saying Bilal Mese had insulted him during the Euro 2016 tournament in France. The broadcaster CNN Turk quoted Mese as saying Turan attacked him shortly after boarding the plane, hurling insults and swinging punches at him despite being restrained by another journalist, a security guard and team personnel. Mese said he would take legal action against Turan. “At first I thought he was joking … Then, one of his punches swung by,” CNN Turk quoted Mese as saying. Commenting on the events on the flight to Slovenia, where Turkey will train before a World Cup qualifier in Kosovo on Sunday, Turan said the reporter had spread rumours and insulted his family values while covering Euro 2016. He said: “I made a mistake while wearing the national team uniform. It was something that should not have happened on the national team plane,” he said. “Do I regret it? No, I feel like a bird because I never forgot what was said about me. “I am putting an end to my national team career. I am speaking as someone who has served at every level of the national team, who loves his country and is in love http://www.officialathleticshop.com/authentic-33-jose-canseco-jerse... with this jersey.” Turan was widely criticised for a disappointing performance at Euro 2016. The the 30-year-old joined Barcelona from Atlético Madrid in July 2015. Turkey are fourth in the World Cup qualifying Group I with eight points from five matches, five adrift of the leaders Croatia and two behind second-placed Iceland