Eriksson comes out fighting in effort to save his job

ENGLAND coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has come out fighting in an attempt to save his job.

With speculation growing that the Swede would be dismissed for gross misconduct next Thursday as a result of the PR shambles that accompanied revelations of his affair with secretary Faria Alam, Eriksson has launched a counter-offensive. He claims he neither 'confirmed nor denied' the relationship and was not consulted about the incorrect statements which angered FA chairman Geoff Thompson.

The move comes 48 hours after Thompson confirmed a special meeting of the 12-man FA board would sit in judgment on the matter next Thursday, once the findings of the 'urgent inquiry' he felt compelled to set up were known.

The statement was also released within an hour of the FA's cancellation of next Wednesday's 'inappropriately timed' press conference ahead of England's forthcoming friendly with the Ukraine.

Eriksson claimed to have been 'so distressed by recent inaccurate comment and speculation about my professional integrity' that he had to speak out.

He said: "It is my policy never to comment on my private life - this policy has always been fully understood and accepted by my employers, the Football Association.

"I wish to state unequivocally that, in keeping with the above policy, I have at no time either categorically confirmed or denied any relationship with Faria Alam.

"Moreover neither I nor my advisers had any prior knowledge whatsoever of the statement authorised by the FA on behalf of Ms Alam on Monday, July 19, nor of the press release issued by the FA on Saturday, July 24, nor were either myself or my advisers consulted in any way about the contents of either statement.

"I, therefore, welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters with the Football Association next week, and I look forward thereafter to our qualification campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup."

In leaving Eriksson's name out of the statement completely, Thompson was left in no doubt more pressure would be applied to the England coach, whose chances of keeping his job seemed to be receding by the day.

FA executive director David Davies is reported to have contacted Eriksson when the governing body were first alerted that the story was about to break.

Davies' version of events will be crucial to the outcome of next week's meeting, but Eriksson's response - and his pay-off line indicating his desire to continue in his role to the 2006 World Cup - have given his detractors among the FA hierarchy a massive problem.

Should the Association attempt to dismiss Eriksson without handing him the £14 million which he believes he is entitled to under the terms of the new contract he only signed in April, the FA are now in no doubt they would be hit almost immediately by a legal action from the Swede.