What We're Reading
Rooney wins case against former agents
- The Guardian, Thursday, July 15, 2010 3:55 PM
The complex, occasionally acrimonious relationships between star athletes and the companies and individuals who represent them sometimes wind up in court, and such has been the case for England and
Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney.
Under terms of an eight-year agreement signed by Rooney when he was 17, Proactive Sports Management billed him 4.3 million pounds
(currently $6.6 million) in commissions for work on sponsorship deals and other business dealings that involved Rooney and his wife, Colleen.
Instead, the Rooneys were
ordered to pay just over 90,000 pounds ($137,700) due for work done with Speed 9849 Ltd, a company owned by Colleen Rooney. Rooney was signed under the aegis of agent Paul Stretford,
who left Proactive in 2008 and continued to represent the England star. Last year, Stretford was found guilty of improper conduct and banned from representation as a soccer agent for nine months and
fined 300,000 pounds ($460,000).
Perhaps this case was on his mind during the World Cup, and that would explain why he did not score any goals.