BRITAIN: Faria Alam, the Football Association secretary who had affairs with England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and the association's former chief executive, Mark Palios, yesterday lost her claim for sexual discrimination.
An employment tribunal also rejected her claim of unfair dismissal.
Ms Alam (39) claimed to have been sexually harassed by her boss, FA executive director David Davies, and that the organisation acted unfairly towards her when news of her sexual relationships with Mr Eriksson and Mr Palios became public.
She told the tribunal that the FA moved to protect Mr Eriksson while exposing her private life to public scrutiny.
But her claim was substantially undermined by 11th-hour revelations which seemed to damage her credibility. Having claimed throughout that she was pestered by Mr Davies, she was confronted with unpublished comments she made to the Mail on Sunday newspaper refuting any suggestion that the executive had made advances to her.
Ms Alam was in America and unavailable for comment yesterday, but her lawyer, Nigel Forsyth, said she was disappointed.
"Until we see the full reasons, which we are told will be released as soon as possible, any further comment would be premature."
He said that the decision was not unanimous. "We note that one member of the panel appears to have taken the view that Ms Alam was unfairly dismissed, as the finding on this issue was by a two-to-one majority."
An FA spokesman said that the tribunal had reached the correct decision. "The FA has consistently viewed the claims as unsubstantiated and without foundation. We were therefore determined to robustly defend our position."