Guardian reports in The end of the affair:

For Faria Alam, the Football Association's Christmas staff party was spectacular proof of something she had known for some time: that men often find her irresistible. Clad in a figure-hugging red dress she had the best seat in the place, between FA chief executive Mark Palios and England's head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson. She was in her element.

Better still, the two most powerful men in English football were both signalling their interest. During dinner the tall, handsome 51-year-old Palios was stroking Alam's leg under the table, while on her other side Eriksson, 56, was displaying the same charm that had persuaded TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson to have an affair with him 18 months earlier.
An Indian perspective on the scandal surrounding Faria Alam by Amit Roy in his column Selling India:

When Faria Alam, 38-year-old secretary at the Football Association, emphatically denied having an affair with Sven Goran Erikkson, the 56-year-old England football coach, I, for one, believed her.

Now, it has come out that Faria was sending e-mails (the sex was 'fantastic', 'very passionate' etc) to her friends, boasting that she was sleeping not only with Eriksson but also with his boss, Mark Palios, the FA’s chief executive.

Faria was born in 1966 in Dhaka, one of four children. Her father, who died last year, owned factories and shops. Faria went to school in Bradford and Newscastle and spent time in Bangladesh. Her parents moved to Seattle. When Faria was 16, she was married off to a Bangladeshi but the marriage quickly broke up. Faria moved to London and tried part-time modelling. She was left with an abiding contempt, it seems, for most Asian men.

After going to a restaurant, she e-mailed a friend: 'And there were altogether three Asian men in this place — all suits, etc, but not one took my fancy.'

The emerging portrait is of a westernised woman who loves wearing short skirts, flirting with (white) men, drinking champagne and being taken by the likes of Palios and Eriksson to expensive restaurants. In return, she allowed them to stay overnight at her apartment. Had she been English, her ‘sex in the city’ life at the age of 38 would have been considered unremarkable. But as a Muslim woman from a Bangladeshi background, she will probably emerge the most bruised from this whole affair — as the former Miss India, Pamel(l)a Bordes/Singh, found to her cost in 1989.

Without a job and little money, Faria may be forced to do a 'kiss and tell' but in the long run that would make it even harder for her to pick up the fragments of a shattered life.

# Posted by Anonymous, at 1/8/04 3:45 AM  

She ain't going broke anytime soon with 1m sterlings head-money on the confession, reports MaleFirst.co.uk:

Faria Alam confession "could make her £1M". The Guardian has reported today the reports that a confession from Faria Alam is worth a minimum of £1m. They cite PR guru Max Clifford who claims that Ms Alam's role in the controversy is potentially lucrative. Ms Alam, secretary to the FA's executive director David Davies, is alledged to have had sexual relationships with Sven-Goran Eriksson and Mark Palios. It was The News of the World who firstly revealed details of an e-mail from the 38-year-old former model to a friend which disclosed the relationship.

# Posted by Anonymous, at 1/8/04 3:55 AM  

Lady Faria is all smiles after selling her story to the tabloids.
# Posted by mudassir, at 5/8/04 10:58 PM