Faria Alam, the secretary propelled into tabloid infamy through her affair with the England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and the Football Association (FA)’s chief executive Mark Palios, this week claimed she had been sexually harassed by a third official.
Reading a prepared statement at the opening of a packed employment tribunal hearing in London, the 39-year-old alleged David Davies, the organisation’s executive director, had repeatedly attempted to hug and kiss her and once declared he wanted to ”lock me up and throw away the key”.
The fresh allegation emerged from the heavily publicised case as Alam, a former fashion model, gave detailed evidence about the way she had been treated and of the relationships she had had with Eriksson and Palios.
She also told the tribunal that the England manager urged her to deny they had had an affair when rumours first emerged. ”Mr Eriksson instructed me that if questioned by the FA, I should deny that I was having any relationship with him,” she said. ”He would do the same. I did not want to do anything which might get Mr Eriksson into trouble.”
Alam’s claims against the FA encompass allegations involving breach of contract, sexual discrimination, unequal pay and unfair dismissal.
She began her evidence by recording the sequence of her relationships in order to explain the context of how she came to leave her job at the FA.
She joined the organisation as a PA at the beginning of July 2003, she said. ”I had a brief relationship with Mr Palios towards the end of [that year] culminating in a trip to Paris.” He later told her he wanted to finish the relationship. ”I was upset at the cold way he ended [it].”
Eriksson, who had always been considerate, became more persistent. ”He would often appear on the floor where I worked and give me compliments,” she revealed. ”He would telephone me and ask what I was wearing. He told me that I was beautiful. He would often say: ‘You have never tried me, give me a chance.”’
Alam initially resisted and told him she did not want a relationship because he already had a partner, Nancy Dell’Olio. But, she recalled, the England manager told her that he and Dell’Olio had been ”leading separate lives for over a year”.
The affair went ahead. ”We had two wonderful days together,” she said. ”As well as the physical side of our relationship, we talked and talked. We only saw each other in private.”
She later denied the affair when asked about it by FA officials.
Alam was accused of indiscretion by the FA’s counsel, Jeffrey Bacon, for providing details of the affairs in e-mails to family and friends.
She boasted of her liaisons with ”Sugar” (Eriksson) and ”Pretty Polly” (Palios) in e-mails to friends that have subsequently been sold to the tabloids.
But it was allegations of sexual discrimination which opened up a new dimension to the case. ”During my time of employment at the FA, I was sexually harassed by David Davies,” Alam maintained. ”He made unwanted physical overtures to me. At his flat on one occasion in 2003, he tried to hold me close and kiss me while I left. On several occasions when we were alone in the lift together, he would try and kiss me on the lips. I would rebuff him.”
Alam said other female colleagues had told her Davies had ”a bit of a reputation” and had ”tried it on” with them. ”On occasions in his office he would attempt to hug me or put his arms around me. He advised me that his life was better with me in it and that we should run away together or that he wanted to lock me up and throw away the key. I found these comments and his conduct embarrassing and I did nothing to encourage it.
”I indicated his physical attentions were unwelcome by pushing him away or by moving out of range. I mentioned to several people at the FA that I found his attentions unwelcome.”
She recorded these incidents in a notebook but it had gone missing from her possessions at work and had not been been returned to her, she said.
”It is with considerable reluctance I have brought this claim against Mr Davies because I feel very sorry for his wife,” she added.
Alam also admitted that in e-mails to colleagues she had previously described Davies as a ”great” boss.
Davies issued a statement denying that he had harassed Alam and confirming that he would give evidence to the tribunal.
The FA maintains that Alam lied to officials when she denied having an affair with Eriksson. She said she was never asked the question directly. This week the tribunal heard that Davies had inquired whether she had been ”running around” with Eriksson. ”What did you think he meant — jogging?” asked Bacon. — Â