Despite the media hype regarding the affair between England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and Football Association (FA) secretary Faria Alam, and the apparent view of the FA committee favouring his departure, Eriksson stayed in his job. But why?

The answer is simply that the FA heeded its own legal advice, which stated categorically that Eriksson had no case to answer in respect of the allegations against him and so to dismiss him would have been legal suicide.