Rooney agent to appeal

Stretford maintains his innocence and brands verdicts 'a travesty'

Last updated: 9th July 2008

paul stretford

Stretford: Maintains innocence

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Wayne Rooney's agent Paul Stretford is to launch an immediate appeal against his 18-month ban and £300,000 fine for breaking regulations when he signed the England striker.

Stretford continues to maintain his innocence after being found guilty by a disciplinary commission of seven out of nine charges brought by the Football Association.

The commission ruled the founder of Proactive Sports Management - which became the Formation Group four years ago - "muscled in" to persuade Rooney to breach his representation contract with previous agents Pro-Form in 2002, 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 the 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.

But the agent has branded the ruling as 'a travesty' and confirmed he is set to appeal.

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

Immediate appeal

"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."

He added: "It has always been my contention that the FA case against me should have been heard in public and by an independent panel. Had that been the case, I believe the verdicts would have been very different."