Sports
Sven-Goran Eriksson obituary: Calm, dignified, positive, but never a pushover
It was before a Manchester City press conference when a worried club official came into the room to warn everyone that — and it’s a story that feels relevant now — Sven-Goran Eriksson was as angry as he had ever seen.
Eriksson had taken the City job in 2007, the era in east Manchester before the money started to pour in, as his first appointment in football since ending his time as manager of England’s national team.
But the tabloid press had developed an obsession with his private life and there was a certain amount of intrigue that, throughout his 11 months in Manchester, he preferred to occupy the presidential suite of the Radisson hotel rather than taking the more conventional route of buying or renting a house.
A photographer had worked out he could point his lens directly into the hotel bar from the street below and a series of front-page photographs had been published showing Eriksson dancing with a younger woman who was not his partner. He appeared to be holding her tight. In the last photo, it seemed his hand had moved down her lower back. Who was this mystery brunette? Was Sven up to his old tricks again?
Well, it turned out to be his daughter and perhaps that says a lot about the scruples of some red-top newspapers that had made it their business to spy on his life.
Sven, we were warned, wanted to address it. He was on the warpath, apparently. And “we”, in this case, refers to the Manchester football writers, long accustomed to having our eyebrows singed by the ferocious tongue-lashings from Sir Alex Ferguson that became known as the ‘hairdryer’ treatment.
What we had never witnessed was the Eriksson version and, let’s face it, he had every right to be steaming mad. He didn’t look too angry when he walked in, though. “Today,” he said, “not good.”
And, blimey, that was it. He was smiling, holding out his hand to welcome all of us, one by one. No shouting, no threats. It was typical Sven: killing everyone with kindness.
Why tell this story now? Well, perhaps it tells us a lot about how the man saw life and why the news of his death, aged 76, has brought so many tributes from people who spent time in his company and have their own stories about that lovely, calm manner.
Eriksson oversees England training (Gareth Copley – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
Don’t be mistaken: he was never a pushover, as Ferguson himself could testify from that fractious phone call when Eriksson informed him that, yes, he did intend to take Wayne Rooney to the 2006 World Cup, completely against the wishes of United’s manager with the player recovering from a broken metatarsal.
In future years, Eriksson would chuckle at the memory of Ferguson’s X-rated response and how, in the worst moments, the Swede had to hold his phone away from his ear. But Eriksson held his ground. He refused to be beaten down and, in the end, got his way.
More on Sir Alex Ferguson…
No manager with Eriksson’s record of achievement, including 18 trophies with clubs in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, could have worked in football for as long as he did without a steely edge. He just hid it better than others, perhaps.
His first managerial appointment came in 1977 with Degerfors of Sweden. The last was in 2019 with the Philippines national team. In between, he had five years in charge of England, one season with Manchester City, a year at Leicester City and seven months as Notts County’s director of football, leaving all these jobs in circumstances that would not ordinarily qualify someone as a national (overseas) treasure.
And yet, it has felt that way for some time, particularly since he opened up about his pancreatic cancer and accepted that he was not going to win his fight with this brutal, indiscriminate disease.
Eriksson’s response to the news went beyond the bubble of sport. It was a reminder that as important as football is, he understood life’s priorities. He was always comfortable in his own skin, but not everyone feels able to talk so publicly and radiate such optimism when they are staring death in the eye. Not everyone wants to advertise the fact they are in their last few months and weeks.
He never saw it that way, of course. He wanted to say goodbye. And, Sven being Sven, he wanted to say thank you, too. At a time when the internet, football and social media can be a fairly dreadful mix, he seemed intent on bringing something different into the homes of complete strangers. His messages had warmth and kindness at the heart of everything.
It was reciprocated, too.
If Eriksson had a bucket list, managing Liverpool was on it. He loved it when the club he supported as a boy invited him to manage Liverpool in a charity legends match against Ajax in March. It was, he said, “absolutely beautiful” to take his seat in the Anfield dugout.
These were just some of the moments recently when it has felt like a trick of the mind that, in another era, his presence in English football was seen as an affront by many people.
Eriksson fulfils his ambition of managing Liverpool at Anfield (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
John Barnwell, of the League Managers Association, described it as “an insult” to his members when the Football Association confirmed in 2001 that it had invited a non-Englishman to fill the vacancy left by Kevin Keegan’s departure. Gordon Taylor, of the Professional Footballers’ Association, accused the FA of “betraying their heritage”. An infamous column in the Daily Mail frothed that English football had decided to “sell our birthright down the fjord to a nation of seven million skiers and hammer throwers who spend half their year living in darkness”.
The speed with which these opinions changed once England started winning under their new manager was quite something to behold. Not that the man in question ever seemed too fazed, anyway.
“Sweden had an English coach (George Raynor) in 1958 when they reached the World Cup final,” said Eriksson. “Why, then, shouldn’t a Swede take England? I read the book The Second Most Important Job In The Country, which is all about the England managers from 1949 through to Kevin Keegan. It showed that all of them were declared idiots at some time, even Sir Alf Ramsey (the 1966 World Cup-winning manager), so I knew what to expect.”
At times, he did not help himself, not least when having attended a meeting with what he believed to be a wealthy businessman months before the 2006 World Cup, he was recorded admitting he would be willing to leave the England role to manage Aston Villa. The ‘Fake Sheikh’ turned out to be an undercover reporter from the News of the World.
It pained him that he could not deliver anything of real substance with the so-called ‘Golden Generation‘, featuring Michael Owen, David Beckham, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and various other A-listers from the time.
The ‘Golden Generation’ fell short under Eriksson’s stewardship (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Yes, the 5-1 victory in Germany in 2001 is up there with England’s finest results, but Eriksson, behind the polite smile and owlish spectacles, burned with competitive desire. He desperately wanted more, especially when Hurricane Rooney appeared on the scene and started blowing opponents out of the way. It was Eriksson, you may recall, who compared him to Pele.
In the end, though, Eriksson never wanted to be defined purely as a football manager. He led a nomadic life, including roles in China, Thailand and Dubai and national team jobs with Mexico and Ivory Coast.
Even when the cancer took hold, he was determined to see more of the world, explore new places and expand his knowledge.
Eriksson takes the applause of fans at another of his former clubs, Lazio, in May (Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)
His home was in Sunne, Sweden, and it was there where he recorded the goodbye message that went out last week. “I had a good life. We are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well,” he said.
To watch it back now is to be reminded of one of his truest gifts: his exceptional calm in the most difficult circumstances. His dignity, his positivity. You could be forgiven for thinking he had put it out too early. But he had it all planned. He is smiling, right at the end.
“I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do,” he said. “Don’t be sorry. Smile. Thank you for everything — coaches, players, crowds, it’s been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it.”
(Top photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Sports
Florida AG launches civil rights investigation into MLB’s warning to Christian pitchers over Pride Night caps
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The attorneys general from Missouri and Florida have reacted strongly to the controversy stirred when Major League Baseball warned three San Francisco Giants players about inscribing a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps, and that reaction includes MLB being served with a subpoena that signals the launch of an official investigation.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier launched his investigation on Friday by serving MLB with a subpoena to investigate whether it is violating the civil rights of players based on their religious beliefs.
The general purpose and scope of Florida’s investigation “extend(s) to possible civil rights and deceptive and unfair trade practices violations in matters of employment concerning the business practices, policies, and procedures of Major League Baseball,” per the subpoena obtained by Fox News Digital.
In a letter from Uthmeier to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, the AG warns that “a pattern or practice of selectively enforcing its rules to benefit favored secular beliefs over disfavored religious beliefs would not only potentially violate Florida civil rights law, but it would also violate the League’s own policies.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL FACES BACKLASH FOR ITS STANCE ON CHRISTIANS WRITING BIBLE VERSES ON PRIDE CAPS
“And a practice of claiming not to discriminate based on religion while discriminating based on religion could further amount to an unfair or deceptive trade practice in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks at a news conference in Orlando on July 15, 2025, where he said U.S. Masters Swimming should not allow transgender athletes to compete against women swimmers or face legal action. Advocates Cassidy Carlisle and Lainey Armistead also attended. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service)
Uthmeier is particularly troubled by the fact MLB said its warning had nothing to do with the players’ religious beliefs but rather was strictly because of a violation of the league’s uniform code.
It should be noted MLB said in a follow-up statement to its initial warning to the players that it was merely enforcing its uniform codes and the warning had nothing to do with Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker writing a Bible verse on the team’s Pride Night Cap most of the other players wore.
MLB ACCUSED OF ‘DOUBLE STANDARD’ AFTER CALLING OUT PLAYERS’ BIBLE MESSAGES DESPITE BACKING BLM IN 2020
Uthmeier noted that doesn’t ring true and presented in his letter a handful of examples where MLB has been absolutely fine with players adding to their uniform.
“In 2019, for example, a Cincinnati Reds player wrote on his cap in tribute to a nearby mass shooting,” Uthmeier wrote to Manfred. “And in 2020, MLB evidently added new, sweeping exceptions to its uniform rules by allowing players to ‘support social justice and diversity and inclusion.’ These policy changes included permitting players to add Black Lives Matter patches to their sleeves.
“MLB therefore appears to applaud — even change its rules for — the ideological beliefs it prefers, but targets players who express religious views the League doesn’t like.”
Commissioner of Major League Baseball Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks at the 2024 MLB Draft presented by Nike at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 14, 2024. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Florida subpoena, issued under the Florida Civil Rights Act, demands action from MLB on July 23, 2026, at 9 a.m.. At that time, MLB must deliver to the AG’s office documents including:
- All documents concerning how MLB characterized or classified the June 2026 cap writing, including, for example, whether MLB treated it as religious expression, political messaging, protest, or a violation unrelated to its content.
- All documents concerning what prompted MLB’s review of and warning regarding the June 2026 cap writing, including any complaint, media inquiry, internal escalation, or third-party communication received before the warning issued, and the timing of each relative to the warning.
- All documents concerning the actual June 2026 warnings issued by the MLB to any club.
- All documents, including drafts and internal deliberations, concerning MLB’s decision to issue and publicly announce the June 2026 warnings, and any analysis of whether doing so adhered to the Code or with MLB’s treatment of comparable non-religious expression.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp wrote “Genesis 9:12-16” on his Pride-Night themed hat. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Uthmeier is thus joining Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, who recently wrote a letter to Manfred asking the commissioner to confirm that no player who has chosen to refrain from “wearing Pride Month paraphernalia or included Bible verses on Pride Month hats” will not be disciplined in any way.
Hanaway’s letter states that if Manfred fails to answer by June 25 or does not confirm that no discipline will be levied, she too will open an investigation of MLB.
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The two attorneys general have authority over their individual states. But it affects four MLB teams.
Florida is home to two MLB teams — the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins — while Missouri is home to the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals.
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Sports
Commentary: Why MLB’s Pride Night cap condemnation isn’t the anti-Christian crackdown conservatives claim
Amid the first days of grief after Alex Vesia and his wife lost their newborn daughter last fall, Vesia noticed something as he watched the World Series on television. He paused the broadcast, then checked the video, then texted another player to make sure.
51.
Dodgers teammates wore his number on their caps. So did players from the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It was awesome,” Vesia said. “It was a very heartwarming moment.”
Moving.
Touching.
And, under baseball’s rules, illegal.
Who knew, really, until this week? Three pitchers from the San Francisco Giants wrote the name of a Bible verse on their Pride Night caps and, amid an uproar, Major League Baseball said it had warned the players that “writing of any kind, with any message” on any playing apparel is not permitted. The issue, the league said in a statement, was not what they wrote on their caps but simply that they wrote on them at all.
Said MLB in the statement: “We have given the same warning numerous times in the past to players for messages such as ‘Dad’, ‘Happy Mother’s Day, I Love Mom’ and names of family members.”
To its credit, the league did not enforce the rule when Vesia’s number started appearing on caps in the World Series. But, if you’re going to draw a line on enforcement, where should you draw it?
In San Francisco, the actions of the Giants’ pitchers were widely condemned.
“They were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community,” Giants broadcaster and former pitcher Mike Krukow told KNBR, the team’s flagship radio station. “It was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community.”
In response to media inquiries, and as first reported by Outsports, MLB confirmed it had warned the three players. I asked the league whether warnings had been issued in two other instances in which players had written on their caps, including Clayton Kershaw last year writing the same Bible verse on his Pride Night cap that the Giants’ pitchers wrote this year. MLB declined to comment.
“I got chastised by the league when I put Charlie [Kirk]’s name on my hat last year, because a man was murdered in cold blood,” Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen told me, “and now these gentlemen who are relievers in San Francisco are getting chastised by the league for putting a Bible verse on their hat. It’s crazy to me.”
Treinen said league officials had told him the rule is strictly enforced.
“I straight up asked Clayton last year, ‘Did they call you when you put that on your hat?’” Treinen said. “He said, ‘No.’”
The Pride caps feature team logos decorated in the colors of the rainbow, a symbol long associated with the gay community. In the Bible verse cited by the pitchers (Genesis 9:12-16), the rainbow represents “the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures.”
That the league would warn players against writing a Bible verse on their caps ignited a wave of conservative outrage, from Vice President JD Vance to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley fired off a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, alleging apparent discrimination “against baseball players who profess their Christian faith” and threatening the league’s antitrust exemption. Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Harmeet Dhillon said on national television that players might be able to file a claim for employment discrimination.
That is complete nonsense. This is what you want: When employees raise an issue to their employer, the employer listens and addresses their concerns.
In 2023, the year after five Tampa Bay Rays players declined to wear rainbow logos for Pride Night, Manfred said the league would no longer compel players to do so.
“We have told teams, in terms of actual uniforms, hats, bases that we don’t think putting logos on them is a good idea just because of the desire to protect players: not putting them in a position of doing something that may make them uncomfortable because of their personal views,” Manfred said then.
Teammates congratulate Freddie Freeman after his walk-off home run gave the Dodgers a 1-0 win on June 5, when the Dodgers held their annual Pride Night. Blake Treinen, the winning pitcher that night, elected to wear his regular Dodgers cap instead of the Pride version.
(Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images)
Manfred said the Pride Night celebrations could go on, however a team wished to stage them — or not, in the case of the Texas Rangers, the only one of the 30 MLB teams that declines to hold a Pride Night. And the league still sells Pride gear on its website for all teams, including the Rangers.
In the cases of the Giants and Dodgers, MLB grandfathered each team’s long-running use of a rainbow logo on the cap, with this accommodation to players: If you don’t feel comfortable wearing the Pride cap, just wear your regular cap.
That is what Treinen and outfielder Alex Call did when the Dodgers celebrated Pride Night. That is also what a fourth Giants pitcher did.
“My job is to abide by the rules,” Treinen said. “Ultimately, the only rule we have is to wear our team-issued uniform. So that’s what I chose to do.”
To Treinen, the decision over whether to wear a Pride cap is not about passing judgment on anyone else but about what he sees as the push “to force something on people that you know that is controversial to their faith — and, in fact, straight up against their faith.”
He expressed his support for the Giants pitchers.
“Kudos to those men over there who are standing strong in their faith,” he said. “It’s a sad thing to corner someone and try to make them feel bad about their convictions.”
I respect Treinen for explaining his viewpoint. To me, wearing a Pride cap for one night does not diminish your faith at all. It might sharpen your convictions. More important, it signals a welcome to everyone in the community that buys the tickets and broadcast subscriptions that help pay your salary.
“I think a few people made it about themselves and not about the community,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the Bay Area Reporter.
We always proclaim the life lessons of sports. One of them: Sometimes you have to put the team’s interests ahead of your own.
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After its massive 1-0 win over South Korea on Thursday night, Mexico has won Group A and officially clinched a spot in the knockout round.
El Tri will play its Round of 32 game in Mexico City, and will face the third-place finisher in either Group C/E/F/H/I.
This is the fourth time that Mexico has topped the group stage of a World Cup, with the other three coming in 1986, 1994 and 2002.
With the win, Mexico remains unbeaten in World Cup group games at home, going a combined 6-2-0 (W-D-L), with two wins and a draw in 1970 and 1986, and now two wins in 2026.
Before the tournament began, Mexico was listed at +6500 to win the World Cup. Now, after winning its first two games of the tournament, Mexico has surged up the oddsboard to +5000.
Can Mexico build off its first two matches and make a deep run in this tournament? Let’s check out the updated odds for El Tri as of June 19.
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Team Mexico — Stage of Elimination
Last 32: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Last 16: +135 (bet $10 to win $23.50 total)
Quarterfinals: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Semifinals: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Runner-up: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Outright winner: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Mexico is currently +5000 to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup after winning Group A (Getty Images).
Mexico’s Past World Cup Results:
1930: Group stage
1934: Did not qualify
1938: Withdrew
1950: Group stage
1954: Group stage
1958: Group stage
1962: Group stage
1966: Group stage
1970: Quarterfinals
1974: Did not qualify
1978: Group stage
1982: Did not qualify
1986: Quarterfinals
1990: Banned
1994: Round of 16
1998: Round of 16
2002: Round of 16
2006: Round of 16
2010: Round of 16
2014: Round of 16
2018: Round of 16
2022: Group stage
2026: TBD
What to know: Mexico has made a habit of being in the running, but never really being in the running. Make sense? Consider this: El Tri made it out of the group stage in seven consecutive World Cups (1994-2018), but never made it past the Round of 16 in any of those years. In 2022, Mexico failed to make it out of the group stage, and it will look to get back to its winning ways in 2026 after a great start to the tournament. With its win Thursday night, Mexico has now advanced to the knockout stage in eight of the last nine World Cups. It is important to note, however, that Mexico has never made it past the quarterfinals at a FIFA men’s World Cup.
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