Rooney Plays Away - Why Are Footballers Caught Cheating?

Wayne Rooney answered some of his doubters last night, with an excellent performance in England’s 3-1 Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland.  The Manchester United striker scored his first goal for the Three Lions in over a year and after a miserable summer in South Africa and a lacklustre start to the new Premiership campaign with his club, he looks to be back to his best.  However, it’s his scoring off the pitch that is making the headlines.

Tabloid newspapers the Daily Mirror and the News of the World reported on Sunday that Rooney had been playing away and sleeping with another woman, allegedly a prostitute in Spain.  It is also alleged that Rooney had paid this mysterious woman over £1,000 for steamy sessions, whilst his wife, Colleen was carrying his child.  True or not, this latest escapade adds to the list of high-profile footballers who have been caught out in their private lives this year.

First in January, the then England captain John Terry was reported to be having an affair with model Vanessa Perroncel, who was involved with Terry’s former Chelsea team-mate Wayne Bridge.  In March, Bridge decided to retire from international football, as he couldn’t play in the same team as Terry.  England boss Fabio Capello had little alternative in sacking Terry as England captain, replacing him with Rio Ferdinand.  Soon after this news broke out, Terry’s high-profile team-mate at Stamford Bridge, Ashley Cole had a barrage of tabloid reports, suggesting he’d had sexual relations with at least five women.  This was the final straw of his tense four-year marriage with the X-Factor judge and Girls Aloud sensation Cheryl Cole and a divorce was granted last week in the High Court.  Last month, it was Tottenham’s lanky striker Peter Crouch who came under fire for having relations with several women in Spain.  Although still together, it has severely damaged Crouchie’s previously clean reputation and his relationship with the model Abbey Clancy.  Now, with Rooney under the spotlight, you begin to wonder how many more footballers will have their private lives turned under the screw before the end of the year.

Capello and Rooney’s personal sponsors, Nike, Coca Cola and EA Sports have all backed Wayne publicly, insisting that it is just a ‘private matter.’  Surprisingly, his club manager Sir Alex Ferguson has remained quiet under the matter, and he is bound to face a grilling from the journalists at his traditional pre-match press conference at United’s training ground, Carrington on Friday morning. 

Some of the blame has been shifted onto the media, and news spreads fast nowadays, especially with the social networking generation.  Also, clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and especially Chelsea need to draw a line under these issues and tighten their policies when it comes to their highly-paid superstars going out to posh restaurants and flashy nightclubs in town.  Then, there’s the matter of the women involved, some seem to be in the game for having a good time and even launching ‘a career’ out of these saucy stories.  However, it is the footballers who need to trend a tight line.  One step out of line and the media have the capability of blowing the whole story out of proportion.  It takes two to tango, and maybe footballers should be setting a better role model to their idols, such as young children.  If these kids see these stories, they are going to think it is okay for them to do at an older age.  There can be no doubt that these are distasteful stories and they will get people interested, but it does set a very bad example for younger generations.

Rooney may have got through the initial stage with flying colours, but it will be interesting to see how Ferguson handles his troubled star, especially as Rooney is bound to get an absolute pasting this weekend.  Manchester United only head down to Merseyside on Saturday lunchtime to play his former club, Everton, who have never forgiven Rooney for his move to Old Trafford for £27million six years ago.  It could well be a spicy occasion and a very tricky afternoon for Rooney to keep his discipline in check.