Rooney, Owen in gambling rift

LONDON – The tabloid revelations over Wayne Rooney’s gambling habits have sparked a rift between the Manchester United star and his England team mate Michael Owen, reports said yesterday.

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,” he said.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.Rooney meanwhile gave no indication that the furore was affecting his game, scoring one goal and setting up another in United’s 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday.And Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson dismissed the reports surrounding the 20-year-old.-Nampa-AFPSources 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,” he said.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.Rooney meanwhile gave no indication that the furore was affecting his game, scoring one goal and setting up another in United’s 2-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday.And Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson dismissed the reports surrounding the 20-year-old.-Nampa-AFP