Stretford to appeal against verdict

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Stretford will appeal against the sanctions imposed by a disciplinary commission after the agent was charged by the Football Association relating to how he acquired the right to represent Rooney in 2002.

Stretford, founder of Proactive Sports Management which became the Formation Group four years ago, was found guilty of seven out of nine charges.

The commission ruled Stretford "muscled in" to persuade Rooney to breach his representation contract with previous agents Pro-Form but a charge he had enticed the player to do so was not proven.

Some of the charges were for improper conduct, in relation to Stretford "making of false and/or misleading witness statements to police and giving false and/or misleading testimony to Warrington Crown Court" about the circumstances of how he came to represent Rooney.

The ban will not come into force until after any appeal or move to go to arbitration by Stretford. The second nine months of the suspension will not be invoked so long as he is not found to have not broken any other regulations.

Stretford said: "I believe the verdicts of the disciplinary panel against me are a travesty of the facts heard by its members during the hearing.

"I will be lodging an immediate appeal against the verdicts and continue to maintain my complete innocence of the charges brought against me.

"These charges came about as a result of my appearance at a criminal trial as a witness for the prosecution against men accused of blackmailing me with menaces.

"In pursuing their case against me, the FA seems almost wilfully to have cast me as the accused in the trial rather than a prosecution witness acting properly in the interests of justice."