LONDON - The tabloid revelations over Wayne Rooney's gambling habits
have sparked a rift between the the Manchester United star and his England
team-mate Michael Owen.
Rooney was alleged to have accrued gambling debts of 700,000 pounds
with a bookmaker introduced to him and other members of the England squad by
Owen, weekend newspaper reports said.
Sources close to Rooney have said the player is now furious with Owen for
putting him in touch with bookmaker Steve Smith, who is a business associate of
the Newcastle player.
"Michael Owen should be someone who puts his arm around Wayne's shoulder.
Wayne is pretty pissed off with Michael for introducing him to these people,"
the source told The Daily Mail.
Owen introduced Rooney and other England squad members to Smith after
becoming tired of running the team gambling school, reports said.
Up until that point, Owen took the bets but recruited Smith to take care of
matters when the sums of money being wagered became too large.
Smith set up a private bookmakers called Goldchip Ltd to handle the bets
which only received its gambling licence last week. Prior to that Smith was
reported to have acted as a betting agent for the players.
Smith insisted he had not been operating illegally.
"I have never operated as an unlicensed bookmaker," he said. I got my own
license on Thursday last week. Up until then I was authorised to receive bets as
any agent to a bookmaker who has a permit.
"It is all completely legal."
The Times noted that while sources close to Rooney had tried to point the
finger at Owen, none of the other members of the squad who have dealt with
Smith, including John Terry, Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, have had any
complaints.