FA admits Eriksson affair

2004-07-25 21:17

London - The Football Association has admitted that Sven Goran Eriksson had an affair with a secretary.

It said the England manager and FA boss Mark Palios both had relationships with 38-year-old Faria Alam.

The FA had previously denied reports about Eriksson's affair.

However, it was forced to change its stance when presented with evidence obtained by the News of the World.

The revelations come after Eriksson's reportedly split from Italian lover Nancy Dell'Olio.

E-mails seen by the newspaper show former model Alam disclosed her relationship with Eriksson to a friend.

The messages also revealed that Alam had previously been involved with FA chief executive Mark Palios.

"Earlier in the week the Football Association made statements on behalf of Faria Alam, denying that she has a sexual relationship with the England coach Sven Goran Eriksson," an FA statement said.

"New evidence has been presented to us in the form of e-mails which Ms Alam has sent to friends about the relationship and, having made further inquiries, we can confirm that a relationship did take place."

"With regard to the chief executive Mark Palios, we believe this is a private matter, but we have seen evidence from emails sent by Ms Alam, and having made further inquiries, we can confirm an extremely brief relationship did take place."

Dell'Olio was said to be furious at reports that Eriksson had been calling the secretary regularly for several months.

- News24