After the emotion passed, financial reality quickly caught up with Sven-Göran Eriksson’s family. The Swedish tax authorities found that the former coach, who died last August at the age of 76 from pancreatic cancer, had staggering debts. These amount, local media report, to 118 million Swedish crowns. The equivalent of a little less than 10 million Swiss francs.
His assets amounting to “only” 5.4 million Swiss francs, he leaves his estate with a deficit of around 4.1 million Swiss francs. “It’s no surprise for those involved,” Sven-Göran Eriksson’s lawyer and friend, Anders Runebjer, quickly responded to the tabloid “Expressen”. Where it is specified that the deceased owes the vast majority of his debts to the British tax authorities (nearly 8.2 million Swiss francs).
Former England coach from 2001 to 2006, Sven-Göran Eriksson admitted, during an interview with “Expressen” in 2017, to not being “good with money”: “I have no “I have no idea how many I have or where they are.”
This laxity was detrimental to him since he was defrauded, around fifteen years ago, by his financial advisor, Samir Khan, to the tune of 10 million pounds sterling (11.2 million Swiss francs), bordering on bankruptcy. “It was my fault, I let him invest my money,” he recently commented to “Expressen”.
In order to settle part of the debt, the family of Sven-Göran Eriksson has undertaken the sale of their luxurious property located in Sunne, in west-central Sweden. Located on the edge of a lake, it extends over 835 square meters, indicates “The Sun”, and notably includes seven rooms, a private beach, a pool house, a salt water swimming pool, a spa, a sauna, a jacuzzi, a gym and a tennis court, for a total estimate of nearly 2 million Swiss francs.
