11 January 2024 , 11:28
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Former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson did not regret his affair with Faria Alam - despite still living with ex-girlfriend Nancy Dell'Olio.
Eriksson managed the Three Lions between 2001 and 2006, guiding the country to three successful major tournament quarter-finals. During that time, Eriksson's private life got quite the publicity.
This was because Eriksson is alleged to have had an affair with former Football Association secretary Alam. In his autobiography - as relayed by the Daily Mail in 2013 - Eriksson opened up on what happened between him and Alam - and why Dell'Olio still lived with him throughout the affair.
The Swede said that he first asked Alam out for lunch in February 2004 and they started seeing each other at least once a week. Eriksson claimed he even spoke to Alam every single day while England were at the European Championship that summer, even though Dell'Olio, who he started dating in 1998, was there with the wives and girlfriends.
After the tournament, Dell'Olio jetted off to Italy and Eriksson went back to his native Sweden, where Alam visited him. During that time, Eriksson said he received a call from David Davies which informed him that a newspaper was about to reveal he was having a romantic relationship with Alam.
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Eriksson was quizzed about his affair with Alam and he said it was 'nonsense' - not the relationship but the fact he was being asked that question. Moments later, Alam's phone rang from Davies, and although Eriksson didn't know what she told him, she was 'visibly shaken' and left 'worried'.
Shortly after, the story was published in the News of the World that Eriksson was having an affair with Alam, who later sold her side of the story. "It was said Faria had received hundreds of thousands of pounds to tell her side of the story, but I didn’t have any problems with that either," Eriksson said.
Former England boss Sven Goran Eriksson (Getty Images)"She’d been hung out to dry and had lost her job, so why not make some money from the ordeal? What made me sad was that it was definitely over between us. I liked Faria a lot. I think love had even blossomed, at least from my end. People said I should have stopped to think what I was doing before getting involved with her.
"I didn’t care: if I liked a woman and wanted to meet her, why shouldn’t I be able to? And I felt no remorse towards Nancy. She lived in my house, but we weren’t married and I didn’t love her. People could say whatever they wanted. I didn’t regret anything." Eriksson and Dell'Olio ended their relationship in 2007.