Rooney in US booze rant

England star arrested by airport authorities

WAYNE Rooney, pictured, was arrested for a drink-fuelled tirade at a US airport, it emerged last night.

The former England star, 33, who now plays his football in America, was thought to be travelling back to England for Christmas with his family.

After being held by police at the airport in Washington DC, he was taken to a sheriff’s jail.

A mugshot of him in a baggy red top was released by police, but Rooney escaped the “misdemeanour” charge with a $25 (R348) fine and $91 in costs.

With his reported £4.7 million-a-year earnings from Major League Soccer club DC United, the fine will take Rooney two minutes and 12 seconds to earn back.

The incident is thought to have occurred at Dulles Airport on December 16, after the former Manchester United player returned from Saudi Arabia after attending the Riyadh Formula E Grand Prix.

Three days later Rooney retweeted a picture his wife Coleen, 32, had posted, saying he was “back home” in Cheshire to celebrate Christmas with their four sons.

Neither have referred to the airport incident on their social media feeds and, on December 22 Rooney appeared in a relaxed mood as he appeared as a pundit on BT Sport for a Manchester United game.

The arrest is unlikely to prevent Rooney playing for DC United when the US season starts in March, after the winter break.

But it will be embarrassing for the team he joined last summer on a £46 million contract.

It also means he is more likely to be pulled aside for extra questioning when he next tries to enter the US.

He took his family with him when he made the move.

A spokesperson for DC United said: “We are aware of news reports indicating that Wayne Rooney was arrested in December.

“We believe this is a private matter for Wayne that DC United will handle internally. We have no further comment.”

A spokesperson for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said he had been booked into an adult detention centre on December 16 “on a charge of public intoxication stemming from an arrest by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police”.

They added that he was released on a “personal recognisance bond”, which requires a suspect to sign a promise to turn up to court if required, and not get into any further trouble.

A court hearing due to take place on January 24 has been waived after the fine was paid and it is believed Rooney will not face any further action.

Rooney spent 13 years at Old Trafford. He became one of the MLS’s highest-paid players when he signed a three-and-a-half year contract with DC United last summer after leaving Everton, where he had started his career.

In 2017 Rooney was given a two-year driving ban after being stopped at three times the limit at the wheel of a VW Beetle belonging to a girl he had met on a night out in Chester.

Last night Rooney’s spokesperson said he was arrested after he was left “disorientated” by prescription sleeping tablets he had taken on a flight from Saudi Arabia while drinking.

He added: “During the flight Wayne took a prescribed amount of sleeping tablets mixed with some alcohol consumption and consequently was disorientated on his arrival. He was approached by police who arrested him on a minor misdemeanour charge. He received a statutory automatic fine and was released shortly afterwards at the airport.

“The matter is now at an end. There will be be no further comment.”