Sven-Goran Eriksson was last night forced to reaffirm his long-term commitment to England after it emerged he had met Roman Abramovich just 48 hours after the Russian completed his purchase of Chelsea.
The meeting, which was also attended by the agent Pini Zahavi, who acted for the Russian in negotiations over his takeover bid, took place at Abramovich's house in London last Thursday evening. Confirmation that talks took place is sure to undermine further the position of Claudio Ranieri as manager at Stamford Bridge.
The national coach was photographed alongside Zahavi arriving at the billionaire's SW1 home. Yesterday Eriksson had to issue a public explanation of the talks given the increasingly precarious nature of Ranieri's position.
Eriksson is contracted to England until after the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006, but fell short of denying that he was offered the post at the Premiership club in a carefully worded statement released by the FA last night.
"I can confirm that last week I met with Pini Zahavi and the new owner of Chelsea Football Club - Roman Abramovich - at Mr Abramovich's property in London," he said. "Pini Zahavi and I have been good friends for 20 years, since I was coaching Benfica. As Pini spends a lot of time in London, we regularly meet socially.
"Additionally, I have known Roman Abramovich for several months and during that time have also enjoyed socialising with him when he is in London.
"However, due to the intense media profile given to Mr Abramovich's involvement with Chelsea, I accept that this meeting may create unfortunate speculation.
"Therefore, I would like to once again categorically reaffirm my total commitment to my role as England head coach. I am thoroughly enjoying the current European Championship qualifying campaign and I am looking forward to leading England to success in the future."
Zahavi's presence is hardly likely to reassure Football Association sceptics over Eriksson's long-term commitment to the England role.
Whatever the basis of the FA's concerns, the contact between Abramovich and Eriksson has left Ranieri's position virtually untenable. The Italian, who took up the reins in west London three years ago, was under threat the moment the Russian completed his £29.6 million purchase of a 50.09 per cent stake in Chelsea Village and declared himself "not sure" about Ranieri's credentials.
Meanwhile, a senior Russian tax official has reprimanded Abramovich for using a loophole in the country's tax legislation to avoid paying 10 billion roubles (about €290 million) in tax, claiming the money was used to fund his purchase of the London club.
Sergei Stepashin, head of Russia's audit chamber, which oversees the acquisition and spending of government money, claims Abramovich used the loophole to enable his oil company, Sibneft, to avoid paying its dues in 2001.
He added that the move was entirely legal, but expressed displeasure at its use.
"Oil companies' money should go into introducing new industries and the growth of production, instead of on the purchase of football clubs," he told the Interfax news agency. "This (tax loophole) is where he got the money for Chelsea," the Kommersant newspaper also quoted him as saying.
Elsewhere, Fulham last night rejected an offer worth £5 million from Everton for their England Under-21 midfielder Sean Davis.
The offer, comprised of an initial down payment of £3.5 million with further money linked to appearances and honours at Goodison Park, constitutes the extent of David Moyes's summer transfer budget, though the Everton board is believed to be prepared to find extra funds to increase the size of the initial payment.
The former Wimbledon midfielder Michael Hughes, who spent the whole of last season in limbo after a legal dispute over his registration between the Dons and Birmingham City, is hoping to resume his career with Crystal Palace.
Guardian Service
