Rooney to battle former agents - Capital Sports
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

English Premiership

Rooney to battle former agents

LONDON, February 7 – Wayne Rooney will face a new court battle after his former agents were given leave to appeal over a 4.3-million-pound (6.6-million-dollar) claim they have brought against the Manchester United and England striker.

A judge ruled at Manchester Mercantile Court in July last year that the agreement between sports management firm Proactive and Rooney for a 20 percent commission for a number of deals was unenforceable.

The judge added that the eight-year contract Rooney signed as a young Everton player was "an unreasonable restraint" of his trade when the Football Association recommended a maximum of two years.

But appeal judge Lord Justice Alan Ward said Monday that Proactive did have a prospect of success in its arguments over Rooney’s contract

"The mere fact that this was a claim for millions of pounds is almost in itself a compelling reason to give permission to appeal," Ward said.

The original verdict was postponed until after Rooney’s participation in England’s ill-fated World Cup campaign in South Africa last year.

That saw a firm owned by Rooney’s wife Coleen ordered to pay Proactive just over 90,000 pounds (138,227 dollars) for work conducted on her behalf up to October 2008.

Proactive took the couple to court, claiming they had withheld the commission on multi-million pound deals brokered during the time they represented him.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Rooney made no payments after football agent Paul Stretford, a director and founder of Proactive, left the firm in October 2008 — taking with him the England forward as his star client.

Rooney was signed by Stretford for Proactive in 2002 when he was still playing for Everton and the teenage striker quickly garnered multi-million sponsorship deals with companies including Nike, Coca-Cola and EA Sports.

Proactive argued that, as such contracts for Rooney and Coleen were brokered by Stretford while he was still at the firm, they were due the 20 percent commission — amounting to 4.3 million pounds.

Advertisement

More on Capital Sports

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 – DStv and GOtv subscribers are in for a treat of the world’s best football this week as the 2020-21...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel. After failed promises over the last three years since its...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Gentrix Shikangwa scored with two minutes left as Vihiga Queens sailed to the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers...

NFL

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 13 – Kenya’s history making Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in America’s National Football League (NFL), is now living...

© 2024 Capital Digital Media. Capital Group Limited. All Rights Reserved