The sex scandal at the English Football Association has now claimed one victim -- chief executive Mark Palios, who resigned on Sunday.
The question is: Who's next?
Palios quit over the FA's handling of a scandal that also threatens England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, although the association's director of communications, Colin Gibson, has also offered his resignation.
According to reports, both Palios and Eriksson had affairs with a 38-year-old secretary at the FA. But the fact that the FA first denied and later confirmed the reports is the issue that could lead to more casualties of the latest scandal to hit English soccer.
David Davies, the FA's executive director who has been put temporarily in charge after Palios' departure, said on Monday that England's national federation didn't want to lose Eriksson too.
"Let's make this absolutely clear, Sven-Goran Eriksson is one of the outstanding football coaches in the world," Davies told reporters outside FA headquarters in central London.
"That's why so many people want to hire him. That's why, when they seek his services, we have to say that. That's why we also have to say he wants to be the coach of the senior England team.
"He has a track record, a consistent record of success wherever he's worked and of course he's highly respected by the players."
Davies said that the FA staff would try and get on with their jobs as usual despite the internal turmoil.
"When the staff come in, we will be saying to people `let's get on with the important business that we all have in front of us' and we will get on with that," he said.
"We have had problems in the past, everybody knows that. Our business is carried out in the intense glare of publicity.
"You're all here. In one sense I'm thrilled you're all here because of the interest in the game. People care for the game passionately. We have a responsibility to sort out these problems, to come through this period and to get on with the new season."
Palios announced his resignation a week before the start of the new season in a statement released by the FA on Sunday evening after more newspaper revelations about the scandal.
"I am very sad that I feel this is necessary," said Palios, who took the job July 1, 2003.
"It has been a privilege to be chief executive of the Football Association but with privilege comes the burden of responsibility. And it has been important for me to take ultimate responsibility for everything the FA has done in good times and bad.
"Personally, I do not accept that I have been guilty of any wrong doing," Palios said. "But it has become clear to me that my action tonight is essential to enable the Football Association to begin to return to normality."
The key figure at the center of the scandal is an FA secretary, Faria Alam, who reportedly had affairs with both the England coach and the chief executive.
The FA has scheduled a special board meeting for Thursday to discuss an inquiry into how two office romances among unmarried people turned into a public relations nightmare.
Eriksson will also be specifically asked if he gave misleading information over his relationship with Alam.
The problem centers on the FA denying on July 19 that Eriksson had an affair with 38-year-old, only to issue a press release five days later admitting both the Swede and Palios had sexual relations with Alam.
Eriksson says he wasn't informed about the press release from the FA.
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