Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson opens up about affairs amid cancer battle

15 August 2024, 14:46

Former England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson has accepted he was “stupid” to cheat on Nancy Dell'Ollio with Ulrika Jonsson and Faria Alam but insisted he “didn’t do anything illegal.”

The 76-year-old football coach, who was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in January, made headlines when his infidelity while managing the Three Lions was made public.

Eriksson has now spoken candidly about his affairs in a new Amazon documentary, titled “Sven.”

In the doc, Sven defends his actions, claiming “sex is one of the good things in life for all of us'.

He explains: “Whoever it was said ‘life is too short’ is right. I had a good life, maybe too good. You have to pay for it.

“I think we all are scared of the day when it's finished, when you die. You have to learn to accept it for what it is.”

Opening up about his fling with Ulrika, he said: “Sex is one of the good things in life for all of us. She was not married. I was not married.

“Probably I was stupid but I think I didn't do anything criminal. I didn't really disturb anyone.”

Sven’s multiple affairs almost saw Nancy quit their relationship, the documentary reveals.

Sven continued: “She loved it. The tension. She was a lady from the upper classes in Rome. She liked to go out with important people.”

While Nancy added: “The first impression that I had about Sven, people in power always have extra, extra sex appeal. I felt in love.

“It wasn't something that I was looking for. I was married and I left my husband to start my journey with Sven.

“We were Sven and Nancy since the first date. I was the first lady of English football and there was never going to be another one after me.”

She said: “The stupidity of Sven. After Sven's first scandal, I wanted to leave him.

“I couldn't want to admit to myself that there was a possibility that I made a mistake. That I left everything for him. My lawyers said give him another chance but think what you can get from this.”

After his fling with Ulrika, Sven went on to have an affair with FA secretary Faria Alam, who was forced to resign after the news broke.

She told Amazon: “The Noughties were just that, they were naughty.“You could do so many things. I'll be honest, I was a beautiful girl and I attracted a lot of attention.”

Sven releases on Amazon Prime next week.

Speaking in January, he said his diagnosis makes him "appreciate every day" and be happy just to wake up in the morning.

"I live a totally normal life," Eriksson told the BBC.

"I'm not in hospital, I go now and then for a visit but I live at home and I have friends here. Christmas and New Year, the whole family were here - a lot of people.

"I'm going out to try and exercise as much as possible, which is less than it was one year ago, but I have a normal life.

"When you get a message like that, you appreciate every day and you are happy when you wake up in the morning and you feel OK, so that's what I'm doing.

"I thought I was fully healthy but suddenly I had a small stroke so I fell and my children took me to the hospital.

"After one day of examination they told me I had five small strokes, but said 'no problem, you will recover 100% from that', but worse is they said I have cancer which they can't operate on.

"They said they will give me treatment and medicine to try and live as long as possible. I have that diagnosis and they can't operate, unfortunately."