Last updated: 9th July 2008
Stretford: Maintains innocence
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.
"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."
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Saturday 6th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Fulham vs Man City |
| 15:00 | Arsenal vs Wigan |
| 15:00 | Blackburn vs Liverpool |
| 15:00 | Bolton vs Chelsea |
| 15:00 | Hull vs Middlesbrough |
| 15:00 | Newcastle vs Stoke |
| 17:30 | Man Utd vs Sunderland |
| Sunday 7th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 15:00 | West Brom vs Portsmouth |
| 16:00 | Everton vs Aston Villa |
| Monday 8th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 20:00 | West Ham vs Tottenham |
| Saturday 13th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 12:45 | Middlesbrough vs Arsenal |
| 15:00 | Aston Villa vs Bolton |
| 15:00 | Liverpool vs Hull |
| 15:00 | Man City vs Everton |
| 15:00 | Stoke vs Fulham |
| 15:00 | Sunderland vs West Brom |
| 15:00 | Wigan vs Blackburn |
| 17:30 | Tottenham vs Man Utd |
| Sunday 14th December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| 13:30 | Portsmouth vs Newcastle |
| 16:00 | Chelsea vs West Ham |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Monday 1st December | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Liverpool 0 - 0 West Ham | |
| Sunday 30th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 0 - 1 Man Utd | |
| Portsmouth 3 - 2 Blackburn | |
| Tottenham 0 - 1 Everton | |
| Chelsea 1 - 2 Arsenal | |
| Saturday 29th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Sunderland 1 - 4 Bolton | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 0 Fulham | |
| Wigan 2 - 1 West Brom | |
| Middlesbrough 0 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Stoke 1 - 1 Hull | |
| Monday 24th November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Wigan 1 - 0 Everton | |
| Sunday 23rd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Tottenham 1 - 0 Blackburn | |
| Sunderland 0 - 1 West Ham | |
| Saturday 22nd November | |
| Barclays Premier League | |
| Man City 3 - 0 Arsenal | |
| Portsmouth 2 - 2 Hull | |
| Stoke 1 - 0 West Brom | |
| Chelsea 0 - 0 Newcastle | |
| Aston Villa 0 - 0 Man Utd | |
| Liverpool 0 - 0 Fulham | |
| Middlesbrough 1 - 3 Bolton | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 15 | 34 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 15 | 33 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 14 | 28 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 15 | 26 |
| 5 | Aston Villa | 15 | 25 |
| 6 | Hull City | 15 | 23 |
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