FA faces sex bias case

The Football Association faces an embarrassing £400,000 sexual discrimination case if it sacks secretary Faria Alam over her affair with Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Legal experts have warned that the football governing body will be open to a damaging claim if Ms Alam is dismissed without Eriksson going as well. It comes after officials seized Miss Alam's computer files to study her emails as part of an internal inquiry into the FA sex scandal.

One leading employment lawyer told the Standard: "If they sack her, they would be in big trouble, especially with a sexual discrimination claim. I think the FA would struggle to dismiss her fairly if there was no similar sanction on Eriksson. She could argue it was because she was female and in a lowly position."

Miss Alam's £35,000-a-year position is not under threat because of her affairs with Eriksson and FA chief executive Mark Palios, but because of her perceived role in the cover-up. When quizzed by officials, she is said to have denied the affair, resulting in an FA statement rebutting the claims. The organisation was forced into a U-turn when confronted with fresh evidence.

Eriksson, meanwhile, is looking increasingly isolated after Palios was yesterday cleared of trying to mislead officials by Geoff Thompson, the man leading the FA internal inquiry.

Lawyers at the FA are reportedly studying the term's of the head coach's ?14 million contract to determine if he can be sacked for gross misconduct without receiving compensation.

Their case may hinge on whether his contract contains a "moral" or " disrepute" clause which says the employee's behaviour must not damage his employer's reputation. Such clauses are commonplace in the contracts of top executives. Eriksson yesterday insisted he had not lied because the FA had not asked him about the relationship.

But bosses are feeling betrayed by his decision to remain silent once allegations of a relationship had been made.

Board member Dave Henson said the organisation had been humiliated. "It makes us look like idiots because there was a denial and then we were told that it did happen," he said.

The results of the internal inquiry will be discussed at a special board meeting on 5 August.