Wayne Rooney Scandal

[skippy]

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: WAYNE ROONEY'S £700,000 BET DEBTS

England camp's turmoil..he can't pay up Owen introduced him to private bookie

By Rupert Hamer

Apr 9th, 2006

ENGLAND ace Wayne Rooney has run up gambling debts of £700,000, the Sunday Mirror can reveal. The striker is part of a secret dressing room gambling ring which includes teammates Michael Owen, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand.

What started as a light-hearted "school" run by racing fan Michael Owen has spiralled out of control and has caused friction and bad feeling in the camp just two months before the World Cup.

Rooney, along with Lampard, Terry and Ferdinand, have been placing bets on credit with one of Owen's business partners, Stephen Smith, who runs a private Bookmakers Goldchip Ltd. Owen introduced the players to him at the start of the season when their bets got too big for him to handle himself.

While other players have enjoyed some success, the 20-year-old Manchester United star found himself losing tens of thousands of pounds on horses, dogs and football matches he wasn't involved in.

His business managers were horrified when he finally confessed that he was being chased for £700,000. Now a legal battle is being waged between them and Goldchip.

Last night Rooney's Manchester United manager Sir Alex Fergusson and FA bosses were made aware of the betting crisis.

The row - just two months before the start of England's World Cup campaign in Germany - has led to some divisions in the squad.

An England insider said: "The debts have caused a lot of friction between certain players. The betting started out as a bit of harmless fun run by Owen to pass the time but it has spiralled into something very serious.

"The lads were betting on horses, dogs and football matches they weren't connected to. They were concerned that there would be some bad publicity if details of the betting got out. So Michael, who is a very accomplished gambler, suggested they use his own private bookie and business partner Stephen Smith.

"The boys would contact Smith and place huge bets. Rooney being young and naive started with hundreds of pounds which soon became thousands of pounds and then became tens of thousands of pounds.

"By Christmas he realised he was in trouble and was being chased to settle his account. He started placing bigger sums to try and recoup some of his losses but he just found himself in more debt. His people are furious that someone so young was allowed so much credit. He had no idea what he was getting into. They think it was very irresponsible of the bookies."

Realising the situation was out of control Rooney - who earns £60,000 a week - confessed to his agent Paul Stretford that he had run up losses of £700,000 and was under pressure to pay up. Now his management company Proactive have asked lawyers to investigate whether or not Goldchip have a gambling licence - the company insists they do.

Anyone operating as a bookie needs to be licenced but most debts run up with a legitimate Bookmakers are not recoverable as the law sees them as "honour debts". As a result most Bookmakers demand money up front. But Goldchip allowed the big-earning players huge credit limits.

Our source said: "Rooney is very worried about the amount he owes. He hasn't dared tell Coleen yet - she'll be furious. It's also hardly the ideal preparation for a World Cup campaign."

The source added: "People think that because of their huge wages stars like Rooney can get hold of large sums of money in an instant but that's just not true. Much of their money is tied up in properties and investments and is under the watchful eye of their business advisers. Goldchip has been told Rooney cannot access that kind of money."

England and Newcastle striker Owen lives in £1.6million mansion in North Wales with his wife Louise and two children. Three years ago the Sunday Mirror revealed how he had wagered up to £2.2million and he later admitted that he "loved" gambling. We told how he lost £26,000 in a day and on another occasion lost £10,000 in a single bet after backing one of his own horses, Treble Heights.

The 25-year-old placed his bets with bookmaker Victor Chandler and spread betting firm IG Index.

But after the Sunday Mirror broke the story it is believed that Owen found a separate company which provided credit for him to bet in "private".

Stephen Smith, 57, lives in a £2million mansion in Horsforth, just outside Leeds. He runs Michael Owen's property portfolio and is director of Owen Promotions. He also runs the helicopter firm which Owen uses to get to matches. Last night Smith told the Sunday Mirror: "I have never operated as an unlicenced bookmaker. I got my own licence on Thursday last week. Up until then I was authorised to receive bets as an agent to a bookmaker who has a permit. It is all completely legal." His lawyer said: "Mr Michael Owen has no connection or involvement with Goldchip. As to the question of which footballers bet with Goldchip, this is confidential information, as is the state of their respective accounts. John Terry does not owe the company any money."

Last night Rooney's spokesman refused to be drawn on the allegations. "We have no comment to make," he said. Football Association laws not only ban players from gambling on matches in which they are involved but also forbid them from using inside information to gamble on other matches. There is no suggestion players using Goldchip have breached these rules.

FA spokesman Adrian Bevington said Sven would be speaking to the players involved, and added: "The FA is not aware of any problems in the England team dressing room due to issues surrounding gambling or anything else. Under Sven Goran Eriksson the England team have enjoyed a fantastic spirit within the camp, a fact that is regularly made by the players publicly.

"This spirit has ensured qualification to three consecutive tournaments, however on being made aware of these allegations by the Sunday Mirror we believe Sven will speak to the players allegedly involved to clarify the facts.

"It's important the fans know that everyone connected to the England team is determined to do all they can to achieve success in Germany. There is little the FA can do to prevent individuals gambling privately, although there are rules preventing betting on any matches they are involved in."

[Toronto_Mike]

well he's still a rich kid and during the scandal, it didnt effect him one bit against Arsenal.