• Sports minister urges club to consider impact of gambling• Derby using Rooney’s shirt to promote online casino sponsorDerby County have been urged by Britain’s new sports minister to reconsider their “very crafty” decision to give Wayne Rooney the No 32 shirt in order to promote an online casino.
Nigel Adams said he understood the criticism Derby had received from the Church of
England and healthcare groups after securing a record deal with their shirt sponsor, the online casino 32Red, by signing Rooney on a reported £90,000-a-week deal and handing him 32 as his squad number. However, he stopped short of endorsing the calls from a growing number of healthcare professionals who have called on the government to ban gambling sponsorship in sport.