On August 26, 2021, Inter Miami CF Vice President and General Counsel Pablo Alvarez sent a letter to Mayor Dean Trantalis, Heather Moraitis and the rest of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. Inter Miami CF Response To Heather Moraitis “I’m not even sure David Beckham knows what’s going on…My city feels let down.” “It seems like an empty promise,” Moraitis said. Moraitis told The Guardian that the team “stalled for two years.” She failed to mention her endless community meetings, her changing plans for the site or even COVID-19 lockdown. Longtime soccer and high school football fans know the area has always been used as a parking lot. I understand everyone has a bottom line and they want to make money, but you can’t do it on the backs of the people.” She complained the area was fenced off and used for parking.
In the British newspaper, The Guardian, Moraitis said, “It seems like an empty promise. Surely Moraitis and her team should have expected the international media to react when she accused him of reneging on a deal with Fort Lauderdale. David Beckham, a former captain of England and a Manchester United great, is an international superstar. Less than a week later, Heather Moraitis’ attacks on David Beckham and Inter Miami went global. “There is no way I am giving them 1 inch of land,” Moraitis said. She badmouthed the NWSL idea as a “surprise” and compared it to a broken promise. Yet, in the Sun-Sentinel article, Heather Moraitis blamed Beckham for the delay in building the park. At one Fort Lauderdale Commission workshop, REDBROWARD heard Moraitis advocate for an “e-sports arena” on the site. This has lead to constantly changing plans. Moraitis held numerous meetings for “community input” to decide final plans for the park. Once the deal was signed, Heather Moraitis controlled to process to figure out what would be built on the site. While the NWSL team would play at DRV PINK, Moraitis feared some of the empty forty acres of land on the stadium site would be used for the women’s team.Īs part of the Lockhart Stadium deal, Inter Miami CF agreed to build a park on some of the land located along Commercial Boulevard by 2022. According to the s tory, Moraitis feared a “sweetheart deal” which allowed Inter Miami to build a stadium (at the team’s expense) on the city owned Lockhart Stadium site would “ turn into one of the worst failures of her political career.” Moraitis was angered when she learned Inter Miami was pursuing a National Womens Soccer League (NWSL) team. On August 20th, Heather Moraitis launched her first attack on David Beckham and Inter Miami in a Sun-Sentinel story. Instead, owner David Beckham and his partners were smeared in local and international newspapers thanks to curious attacks by Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Heather Moraitis and her cronies. Over the last month, fans filled DRV PINK Stadium as the Fort Lauderdale-based Major League Soccer franchise gained 21 points over 10 games to jump into the MLS playoff race. Inter Miami CF should be the toast of the town.