04/19/24
January 15, 2006
Sheik yer booty: Sven Goran Eriksson was hooked by a sting set by News of the World, telling an undercover reporter that he would leave the England job after the World Cup if the 'sheik' were to buy control of, say, Aston Villa despite a contract obligating him to stay until after the 2010 tournament. Will this see him leave earlier, say by Valentine's Day?
posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 06:53 PM - 9 comments
Sounds to me like Sven has a reasonable grasp of his job and his players' capacities and club situations. All comments seem to be spot on. Nothing surprising here. if England wins the WC, he can name his price with any club in the world, I'd imagine.
posted by owlhouse at 01:15 AM on January 16, 2006
No. As far as I can see Eriksson made no firm commitment. I'd be surprised if he stayed on if he won the World Cup, to be honest. It's all downhill from there.
posted by salmacis at 01:38 AM on January 16, 2006
Here's how News of the World played its sting story. I know the paper's a tabloid, but even by their reduced standards, conducting a sting just to get candid comments out of a public figure is pretty low. I hope the effort to humiliate England's coach in the run up to the World Cup hurts their sales.
posted by rcade at 07:23 AM on January 16, 2006
rcade, imagine the scummiest, sleaziest newspaper on the planet, multiply it by ten and voila - you have the News of the World. They are not exactly known for their journalistic integrity.
posted by afx237vi at 09:37 AM on January 16, 2006
You have to remember that about 25 years ago British tabloids stopped being 'newspapers' and became vehicles for popular entertainment. This is the equivalent of candid camera or punk'd. I'm not excusing them, but I get less angry about tabloid 'journalism' when put in this perspective.
posted by owlhouse at 06:38 PM on January 16, 2006
Even so, owl, you'd think SGE would be smarter than this. Use intermediaries or something to offer a level of deniability that being on tape cannot provide.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:33 AM on January 17, 2006
Oh, yes. You'd think any public figure in Britain would be aware of this sort of thing being perpetrated by the tabloids. Media training for politicians (for example) usually includes how to make non-committal and deniable statements! But you must admit, it was a pretty clever hoax. Add a little fancy living in Dubai, a dash of greed....
posted by owlhouse at 02:47 PM on January 17, 2006
Sheik it up baby now. Is this the beginning of the end for the Swede? Will the F.A. really want him for the World Cup? This may turn into a bigger scandal than you might think it would.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 05:19 PM on January 17, 2006
thats stupid. bribing a player. that is really stupid