Wayne Rooney has ‘threatened‘ to pull out of commercial activites for the FA as part of his protest against what he sees as unfair treatment towards him.
Reports on Sunday claim Rooney’s agent Paul Stretford has sent a letter to FA chief executive Brian Barwick, saying his client “feels extremely let down”.
The letter ‘reportedly’ says:
“I am writing on behalf of my client to express his utter dismay at the decision not to overturn the ban.
Rooney feels extremely let down by the FA on this matter.
While he will continue, if selected, to play for his country with pride and commitment, he is considering withdrawing his support for the FA’s commercial programme.
In other words, he will not allow his image to be used or exploited, or participate in personal appearances for and on behalf of the FA’s commercial partners unless he is satisfied with how the FA conducts its affairs in regard to player matters.”
Although I’ve said several times before that the red cards were unfair (see video evidence for yourself), Wayne Rooney’s actions, if true, are not going to help football, him, England or the FA in the long run.
The FA has had a really bad year, first with the Eriksson scandals, then with choosing a new coach and now over Rooney’s domestic ban. They are trying far too hard to appease the wrong people and as a result a couple of their recent decisions have been totally unreasonable (pushing to pick a manager before the World Cup, handing Rooney a 3-match ban when video evidence confirmed that he didnt deserve it, and if you go back a couple of years handing Rio Ferdinand an 8-month ban for missing a drug test as a means of ‘setting an example’).
It would be a bit far-fetched to think that Manchester United are being victimised when a far simpler explanation exists – the incompetence of the FA management.
Read this account of an email conversation with The FA by a Manchester United fan on UnitedRant
But the question remains – how will this help Rooney? The FA cannot back down for fear of losing face, and if they stick to the domestic ban they are alienating Manchester United and Wayne Rooney – something that will only cause them more problems in the future.
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