Ulrika Jonsson has branded former lover Sven-Goran Eriksson ‘not a decent person’ as she broke her silence after he revealed that he was dying of terminal cancer.
The TV presenter, 56, took to Instagram yesterday evening to share a brief post after the former England manager, 75, revealed the devastating news.
She shared a throwback photograph of herself on her Stories and insisted she didn’t ‘have anything to say about Sven’ and branded him ‘not a decent person’ in an accompanying caption.
The post – which has since been deleted – read: ‘Look at me being all young all that. So. PSA. I don’t have anything to say about Sven. #nada. Not a decent person.’
Earlier in the day, Ulrika had been seen out in public for the first time since Sven’s diagnosis was revealed as she visited the shops in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
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Ulrika Jonsson seen for the first time since her former lover Sven-Goran Eriksson revealed he was dying of terminal cancer
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On Wednesday, Sven tragically revealed he feared he only had a year to live after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis last year, discovered following a fall and five ‘small strokes’
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The TV presenter, 56, took to Instagram yesterday evening to share a brief post in which she said she didn’t have ‘anything to say’. She has since deleted the post
Sven had been with Italian lawyer Nancy Dell’Olio for three years when they moved to England for his job as team manager.
But by the start of 2002, he had embarked on an affair with fellow Swede Ulrika.
She later wrote of their fling: ‘I carried on my pursuit for love, pausing briefly for a fumble under the covers with a nearly 60-year-old, Sven-Göran Eriksson.
‘Remember him, the former England football manager?
‘Yes, I am also trying to forget it because sex was about as exciting as assembling an IKEA bookcase, which is what makes my argument for a younger man inescapably convincing.’
Nancy has also spoken out following his ‘devastating’ diagnosis and admitted she had no idea how unwell he was.
The lawyer, who had a ten-year relationship with Sven, said she ‘knew he was ill’ but had no idea of his devastating condition.
The glamorous Italian – who left her husband Giancarlo Massa for the coach – was a constant by his side and was pictured with him at several tournaments.
Nancy, 62, who is in Italy following the recent death of her mother, said: ‘I didn’t think 2024 would open with more bad news. I knew that Sven was ill, but it hurts so much to hear this.
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Sven with Nancy Dell’Olio. He had been with her for three years when they moved to England for his job as team manager. But by the start of 2002, he had embarked on an affair with Ulrika
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On Wednesday, Sven said how he was trying to ‘appreciate every day’ after being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer following five ‘small strokes’
‘It’s a really negative moment. In September my mother died and I can’t get over this loss. It’s like having an open wound that instead of healing keeps getting worse. Sven’s announcement was devastating.
‘I knew he wasn’t well, but hearing his words – really, life can be cruel.’
On Wednesday, Sven tragically revealed he feared he only had a year to live after his pancreatic cancer diagnosis last year, which was discovered following a fall and five ‘small strokes’.
Ulrika Jonsson, 56, was one of the women whom Sven had a relationship with.
Speaking to the BBC World Service’s Sporting Witness programme, he said: ‘Well I thought I was fully healthy, but suddenly I got like a stroke, small strokes, so I fall.
‘My children took me to the hospital and after one day of examination they told me that I got five small strokes but that’s OK, they said, no problem, you will recover 100 per cent from that.
‘But worse is they said you have cancer which we can’t operate and we will give you treatment, medicine and you’ll live as long as possible.
‘But I have that diagnosis and they can’t operate it.
‘When you get a message like that I think you appreciate every day and you’re happy when you wake up in morning and you feel OK. So that’s what I’m doing.’
He also spoke to Sweden’s P1 radio station, and said: ‘Everyone understands that I have an illness that is not good. Everyone guesses it’s cancer and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can.’
When asked what the prognosis is, he added that he had ‘maybe at best a year, at worst a little less, or at best maybe even longer. You can’t be absolutely sure. It is better not to think about it’.
There had been speculation about his health after he stopped working as sporting director of Karlstad in his native Sweden. Yesterday he revealed that he collapsed after a run last year and found out he was seriously ill.
He said: ‘It is not good. Everyone guessed it’s cancer and it is. But I have to fight as long as I can.
‘But you can trick your brain. See the positive in things, don’t wallow in adversity, because this is the biggest adversity of course. But make something good out of it.’
Sven told P1 that he had suddenly collapsed while going for a 5km run.
After seeing his doctors, it turned out that Sven had suffered a stroke and also had cancer.
He said: ‘They don’t know how long I had cancer, maybe a month or a year.’
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The football manager was England boss between 2001 and 2006. Sven pictured with David Beckham after the side was dumped out of the 2006 World Cup by Portugal in the quarter final
In a glittering managerial career, Sven was boss of IFK Gothenburg, Benfica, Roma, Roma, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, Lazio, Manchester City and Leicester City.
He was also manager of Mexico, Ivory Coast and the Philippines.
While in charge of England for five years, he became the most famous football manager in the world.
Between 2001 and 2006 he guided a so-called ‘golden generation’ of stars including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, but never won the major trophy that was expected.
His tragic diagnosis came almost exactly 22 years after he resigned as Lazio manager earlier than expected to take up his coaching role with England.
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