Breaking curfew - footballers punished for staying out late

Wayne Rooney and Manchester United team-mates Darron Gibson and Jonny Evans were punished by Sir Alex Ferguson after staying out later than permitted ahead of their match with Blackburn Rovers.

Here, we take a look at some other footballers who broke the curfew...

Wayne Rooney, Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson

Sir Alex Ferguson deemed Wayne Rooney unable to train when he arrived for training last Tuesday morning after a Boxing Day night out. The England striker, along with Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson were all dropped for the shock home defeat to Blackburn.

Mario Balotelli

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli broke the club's 48-hour curfew before matches to have a late night curry in Manchester last month, the day before defeat at Chelsea. The Italian was fined a weeks wages of £150,000.

Nile Ranger

Newcastle striker Nile Ranger was arrested on charges of assault and being drunk and disorderly in the city centre in October last year, the day before a trip to Stoke, breaking the club's curfew of being out 48 hours before a match. Remanded on bail and given city centre curfew before hearing next Friday.

Leon Best and Stephen Ireland

Newcastle's Leon Best and Stephen Ireland were forced to apologise to club and supporters after breaking club curfew the night before a 4-0 defeat at Stoke last March. The pair were pictured at a city centre nightclub.

Andy Carroll and co

Andy Carroll, Scott Sinclair and Ryan Bertrand were sent home from an England under-19 squad in October 2007 after breaking curfew ahead of a match with Romania.

Chile national team

Birmingham's Jean Beausejour and West Brom's Gonazlo Jara were among five players dropped from Chile's national team after breaking curfew and turning up late for training after attending the christening of a team-mates son last November.

Jimmy Bullard

Midfielder Jimmy Bullard was suspended and eventually released by Hull City after breaking club curfew on a pre-season trip to Slovenia with Hull last summer.

Tottenham Christmas party

Despite strict instructions from Harry Redknapp that a Christmas party was not permitted, a number of Tottenham players, led by Robbie Keane, travelled to Dublin for a festive knees up, much to the fury of their manager. Spurs lost their following match to Wolves.