MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Top 10 CAMPUS bungee • Building a stronger school nursing jumps in programme in Qatar the world P | 4 P | 7 FOOD • The new cooking trend: Add a pound of salt. Or not P | 6 FILM • The Book Thief: Beckham intends A rush through to launch his own life’s lessons professional soccer P 8-9 team in Miami, a | multicultural market that has defied major HEALTH league owners twice • Experimental bird flu vaccines show before. But Beckham promise in early trials is known for making long shots. P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Google mystery barge to be ‘artistic’ high-tech exhibition venue P | 12 Beckham lines Learn Arabic • Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meanings up long shot P 13 | 2 PLUS | MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2013 COVER STORY Beckham plans a Miami soccer team By David Adams and Kevin Gray stadium deals after a $500m baseball sta- dium with a retractable roof for the Miami rom his tattoos to his finely chiseled Marlins failed to draw fans. physique and Armani underwear The state legislature rebuffed the Miami ads, soccer icon David Beckham Dolphins’ request for public funding of a Foozes Miami-style appeal. $350m renovation of its privately owned Blending charisma with a smart busi- American football stadium. ness plan, Beckham intends to launch his Instead, Beckham is assembling a group own professional soccer team in Miami, a to invest $150-200m in private financing for multicultural market that has defied major a new soccer stadium in Miami’s urban core league owners twice before. But Beckham by 2018-19, according to the source, who is known for making long shots. divulged financial details that have been Expectation is high that the former cap- under wraps until now. The same person tain of the England team, who retired as a stressed that the plans are still in the early player in May, will exercise a $25m option stages and the cost could vary according to in his Major League Soccer (MLS) player the final site choice. contract to start a new team later this year “He will not be asking for taxpayer and base it in Miami. money,” the source added, noting that The league has confirmed it is in dis- Beckham was well aware of local resist- cussions with Beckham but is awaiting a ance to public financing. formal bid, including details of the city, the “That is very encouraging, a big boost,” ownership group, and a stadium plan, which said Chip Iglesias, Miami-Dade County is expected before the end of the year. Deputy Mayor who met with Beckham this A source close to the negotiations week after a tour of possible stadium sites. described a financial plan that is well He said the commitment to private financ- advanced if incomplete. ing was bound to create local goodwill. Beckham declined requests for an inter- Beckham envisions building the team view, but he has been touring Miami and with veteran players, international stars recently said the city was ripe for a new who, following his own lead when he moved soccer team. from Real Madrid to Los Angeles, will hang Finding the right location for a sta- up their cleats in other established markets dium and financing is not easy in Miami. to finish their careers in America, the fron- Taxpayers have soured on publicly financed tier of soccer. PLUS | MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2013 3 “David realises he needs to create Fighting A Flop Syndrome and growing traffic congestion is a goalkeeper Gordon Banks and Peru’s a club in the region that is going to With a population of 5.5 million, formidable challenge. greatest player, Teofilo Cubillas. become an international destination the greater Miami Fort Lauderdale Beckham is focused on downtown But major league soccer never took for the city that is going to attract the and Palm Beach region of south Miami, with a potential sharing off, and it flopped again almost two best players. It’s going to be a bridge Florida has long been seen as an agreement at the new Miami Marlins decades later with the Miami Fusion. between Latin America and North attractive venue for a soccer fran- baseball park while his stadium is Miami is different now. While base- America and Europe,” the source close chise, but it hasn’t worked out that being built, according to the source ball-loving Cubans still make up a little to Beckham’s management said. way — twice. cited earlier. more than 50 percent of the Hispanic Beckham has said he has no interest About 70 percent of Miami- Miami Beach has no room, though population in Miami-Dade, there are in coaching but will run the team. Dade’s population speak a language it might seem a natural location for now 600,000 residents from soccer- “He will be across all aspects, from other than English at home (mostly “Becks” and his wife, pop star turned crazy nations in Latin America and the the way it’s run, to the stadium, to Spanish), and Miami area fans are fashion designer Victoria “Posh Caribbean, according to census data. what the uniform looks like, to what typically wedded to high-profile for- Spice” Beckham. The Beckhams live In the western Miami suburb of players are brought in, to who the CEO eign teams — Real Madrid, Barcelona in London with their four children. Doral, South Americans flock to Revo is,” the source said. “For him, this is a and Manchester United (two of which Drawing a critical mass of soccer Soccer, an indoor club with TVs con- passion project.” Beckham played for) — not the less fans in Miami is a quest that former stantly showing live soccer games from This year, Beckham led Sports star-studded domestic league. major league player and manager around the world. Illustrated’s list of the 20 highest- When Chelsea played Real Madrid Ray Hudson, 58, compares to Greek “Bring a good Argentine, a good earning international athletes with in Miami in August, 67,000 fans mythology. “It’s like the Golden Brazilian and a good Colombian player, an estimated $48m in earnings, most turned out, while the Miami Fusion Fleece, and it wasn’t too easy for and the team will have an instant fol- of it from endorsement deals. His esti- averaged only 11,000 fans in their last Jason and them Argonauts to get,” lowing,” said Oscar Sanchez, who helps mated net worth is $250m, according MLS season in 2001 before the fran- he said. run Revo. to Wealth-X, a global research firm. chise was shut down. In the 1970s and ‘80s, Hudson played Weaned on watching world-class His management company, 19 Finding a stadium location that fits for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a players in their home nations, Miami’s Entertainment, is run by British busi- the demographics of a sprawling urban lovable squad of aging soccer heroes soccer-savvy fans expect a high level nessman and American Idol creator area with poor public transportation including partially sighted English of performance, stressed Hudson. “The Simon Fuller. Beckham also has toured first thing and the foremost thing isn’t stadium sites with billionaire Marcelo the stadium, it’s not the ownership. Claure, founder of Miami-based What counts is the product on the Brightstar Corp, the world’s largest field,” he said. “If you don’t produce wireless distributor and the provider quality football, they won’t come.” of global services to Apple. Soccer advocates say the advanc- Claure, who owns one of the top ing popularity of the game nationally soccer teams in his native Bolivia, is changing the perception of Major last month sold a 57 percent stake in League Soccer in Miami, attracting a Brightstar to Japanese telecommunica- new generation of non-Hispanic fans. tions giant SoftBank Corp — owners of Weston, a prosperous Miami sub- Sprint — for $1.26bn. He and Beckham urb to the northwest, is emblematic. plan to work together on the Miami bid Soccer is booming, said Mayor Daniel but have not signed an agreement, the Stermer, a bankruptcy attorney and person familiar with Beckham’s initia- proud soccer dad. The half-Anglo, tive said. Beckham hopes for another half-Hispanic city of 65,000 boasts couple of investors as well. a dozen publicly funded fields, with On October 30 Claure wrote on 3,600 children enrolled in a soccer his Twitter feed: “We don’t have a David Beckham (right) and Marcelo program. “Everyone is excited about deal with Beckham now, and we are Claure, CEO of Brightstar. Beckham’s team - which players he’s still discussing and progressing.” He going to pick and where the stadium declined to comment for this story. will be.” Reuters 4 PLUS | MONDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2013 CAMPUS QA students dominate volleyball season atar Academy enjoyed success in volleyball this season with the Under 13 Boys, Junior Varsity Girls and Boys and Varsity Girls winning Qtheir Qatar United English Speaking Schools titles. This is the first time that the school simultaneously held four titles in different age groups. Hayat Universal School students were excited to experience the Athletic Director Stephen Walker credited all 116 QA students who trained rain and clouds for the first time this year. Jumping in puddles hard and played well in all teams. is a rare opportunity in Qatar and they jumped, played and ran “Volleyball is on the rise at QA and we look forward to further improving around in the puddles. our skills and strategies in the next season.