Sven slaps gag on new revelations
The England head coach has launched legal action alleging breach of confidence against the newspaper after they printed his disclosures to a reporter posing as a sheikh.
Eriksson said he would quit as England coach if they win the World Cup this summer, and also made indiscreet comments about his senior players.
The News of the World has promised further revelations about the meeting this weekend.
Eriksson, however, has come out fighting - with he, his agent Athole Still and lawyer Richard Des Voeux issuing legal proceedings in the British High Court.
A statement from his lawyers read: “Our clients Sven-Goran Eriksson, Athole Still and Richard Des Voeux have today issued legal proceedings against The News of the World in the High Court in London for breach of confidence.
“Last Sunday, The News of the World published a series of articles about a trip our clients made to Dubai at the invitation of an apparently legitimate company to discuss the possibility of a future sports development consultancy.
“It is now clear this was all a highly-sophisticated deception by the newspaper. The resulting articles were a gross invasion of privacy - and the discussions, which our clients were expressly asked to keep confidential, were reported out of context in a distorted and sensationalised manner so as to provide a spurious pretext for the headlines which appeared.
“Although we have asked the publishers for copies of the surreptitiously recorded tapes, they have refused to provide them.
“Our clients’ position is that stories of this sort, and the distortion of what was said during confidential discussions in order to create the bogus appearance of some legitimate public interest, must be remedied.”
Eriksson has reportedly admitted he will deserve the sack if failing to reach the last four in the World Cup - telling a private conference at the BBC: “If we win the World Cup I will say goodbye and thank you. I think people will understand me doing that. I have always said that I wanted to be judged on football results.
“If we fail in the World Cup I have to pay the price - that’s fair. If we don’t get to the semi-finals it’s fair that I don’t stay in the job.”
Talking about the News of the World “sting”, Eriksson said: “It was a kick under the belt. I was disappointed it wasn’t reported that I said Rio Ferdinand was the best defender in the world and that Wayne Rooney was the best footballer in the world.”
A News of the World spokeswoman said: “We stand by the publication of our story 100%. Our investigation uncovered facts about Sven-Goran Eriksson which we believe fans and players had a right to know.”
Meanwhile Portsmouth could face punishment from the Premier League after being charged for breaching rules in their approach to bring Harry Redknapp back to Fratton Park last month.
While at Southampton, Redknapp was initially refused permission to speak to Pompey about their managerial vacancy; then he left St Mary’s saying his position was untenable.
The Premier League have received a complaint from Southampton and will now decide if Pompey’s approach was within the boundaries of their rules.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
