Sven Goran Eriksson 'used an Italian mystic while he was England manager'

By NICK PISA

To England fans, his team selection and tactics sometimes seemed to border on the bizarre.

Now, perhaps, there is an explanation for Sven Goran Eriksson's more erratic decisions.

For the former England football coach was a regular customer of an Italian mystic under arrest for tax fraud and cheating her clients, it emerged yesterday.

Eriksson, 59, consulted Clara Romano, 65, - whose professional name was Maga Clara - for several years while manager of Italian club Lazio and after he moved to England, police said.

A cheque signed by the Swede for an undisclosed amount was found by customs and excise officers after they raided Romano's home.

Yesterday Romano - a self- styled "soothsayer, healer and exorcist" - was under house arrest at her home in Potenza Picena, around 180 miles north-east of Rome.

When contacted, she initially refused to speak, saying she was forbidden to by the conditions of her house arrest following Tuesday's raid on her house.

Contacted again, she said: "I saw this arrest coming you know - remember I have supernatural contacts.

"I haven't killed anyone. I have never defrauded anyone. If anything I am the victim of injustice. Not one of my clients has ever complained about me."

Passing the phone to a woman she described as her assistant, a female voice said: "Yes, Mr Eriksson was a client of Maga Clara. But she cannot say anything else."

Eriksson, who stood down from the England job after a disappointing 2006 World Cup campaign, is currently manager of Manchester City.

The 18-month investigation into Romano was led by Italian customs and excise commander Fabrizio Cuneo and Eriksson's name - as well as that of Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti - emerged following the raid.

A source close to the investigation said: "At her home we found a list of several high-profile clients and there was also a photocopy of a cheque signed by Sven Goran Eriksson.

"It would appear that he and Massimo Moratti were clients for some time. She is being held under house arrest until her next appearance in court on Tuesday. The case was difficult for the officers involved because as you can imagine her clients were embarrassed to speak."

Sources said that the alleged fraud and tax evasion "ran into several hundred thousand pounds."

Each consultation cost £2,613 and she had hundreds of clients, they said. According to her website, Romano gives consultations by phone or in person at her home.

The site also has several bizarre photos of her dressed in flowing robes and standing inside a burning six-pointed star and at the foot of a crucifix.

The website reads: "She was born the seventh of nine consecutive daughters. Therefore she was given the divine gift of reincarnation."

It went on: "Simultaneously with her birth, a tremendous fire burst out in her father's cinema, which seemed to be announcing a very special event."

She also claimed to have given "special powers" to Italian footballer Roberto Baggio.

Last night a Manchester City spokesman said on behalf of Eriksson: "We have no comment to make on this."