Fear of backlash after FA ban Rooney's agent for 18 months

The FA risk falling out with Wayne Rooney after taking unprecedented disciplinary action against his agent Paul Stretford following a marathon legal battle.

Stretford was fined a record £300,000 and banned from working as a football agent for
18 months, with the second nine months suspended, by a four-strong FA commission
which included former England manager Graham Taylor.

The agent, who founded Proactive Sports management, had seven of the nine charges for breaches of FA rules and FIFA agents’ regulations upheld by the tribunal, who delayed judgement on three occasions such were the complexities of the case.

Foul play: Wayne Rooney and agent Paul Stretford

It dated back to Stretford acquiring Rooney as his client in 2002 and the collapse of a 2004 blackmail trial at which Stretford was the chief prosecution witness.

Stretford, who has been fighting the FA’s right to be both judge and jury since the
charges were brought in June 2005, described the verdict as a ‘travesty’ and launched an immediate appeal.

It is likely this will drag on for another year as it goes through the FA appeals panel and then to an independent tribunal, which is what the Stretford camp have wanted from the start. The agent’s costs are already approaching £1million.

Rooney’s reaction could cause serious problems for the FA, as he is likely to refuse to
co-operate with any FA-related commercial activity.

Rooney was said to be furious at the verdict and supports his agent. Both the player and his family were thanked by Stretford in his statement for giving evidence on his behalf, as were Manchester United chief executive David Gill and PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor, both of whom sit on the FA council.

But the FA compliance department, who say they must divorce disciplinary issues from other FA business, will feel vindicated in pursuing Stretford, even though he had
a key role in ensuring Rooney played in the 2006 World Cup after the FA’s dispute with
Manchester United over his fitness.

The commission found that Stretford encouraged Rooney and his parents to enter into
an agreement with Proactive on July 17, 2002 although he knew Rooney was still under contract with Pro-Form Sports management.

Two other breaches of FIFA regulations were upheld: failing to lodge the representation with the FA and entering into an eight-year contract with Rooney when
there is a two-year limit.

Stretford was also found to have made a misleading witness statement and given
untruthful evidence in the Warrington court trial, relating to representation agreements from July 2002 and September 2002.

Stretford’s ignorance of that July contract led to the collapse of the blackmail trial, at which the agent claimed he suffered threats from Pro-Form connections after Rooney joined Proactive.

Stretford has consistently claimed he knew nothing about the pivotal July document,
which erroneously mentioned football playing rights.

It was signed by Proactive chief executive Neil Rodford, a former business associate of Kevin Keegan.

Rodford is now understood to be considering his position with the sports agency.

Stretford said last night: ‘The verdict is a travesty. I will lodge an immediate appeal and
continue to maintain my complete innocence of the charges brought against me. The FA seems almost wilfully to have cast me as the accused rather than a prosecution witness acting properly in the interests of justice against men accused of blackmailing me with menaces.

‘Had the case been heard in public by an independent panel, which has always been my contention, I believe the verdict would have been very different.’