Wayne Rooney left furious with Jamie Vardy and accuses him of ‘running scared’

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Wayne Rooney said he told Jamie Vardy to ask his wife Rebekah to ‘calm down’ during the 2016 Euros as her media activities were ‘causing problems and distractions’ that he said the FA wanted to avoid

Wayne Rooney has accused Jamie Vardy of running scared after the ex-England teammates’ disagreement over their wives’ libel trial, it was claimed today.

The former England captain was furious after Vardy dismissed Rooney’s evidence in the hearing this week as “nonsense”.

Rooney, 36, had said under oath that he had told the Leicester City striker to ask wife Rebekah to “calm down” during the 2016 Euros as her media activities were “causing problems and distractions” that he said the FA wanted to avoid.

Afterwards Vardy, 35, said in a statement read outside court: “Wayne is talking nonsense.

“He must be confused because he never spoke to me about issues concerning Becky’s media work at Euro 2016.”

A source close to the Rooney team told the Mirror: “Wayne feels Jamie should have had the guts to take the stand and say on oath what he wanted to say.

“That way he could have been questioned on who was telling the truth. Instead he just made his statement outside the court and scuttled off with Becky.”

Another source said Rebekah, 40, would have seen Rooney’s evidence weeks before the hearing when all witness statements were disclosed.

The source said: “If Jamie thought Wayne was not telling truth then he could have prepared his own statement and given it from the witness box like Wayne did.”

It was the first time Rooney gave evidence in the High Court libel case brought by Rebekah against his wife Coleen, 36.

He told how then-England boss Roy Hodgson and his assistant Gary Neville asked him to intervene amid negative media coverage surrounding the Euros.

He said he “100%” spoke to Vardy. The trial continues.