Sweden's veteran coach Eriksen recently revealed that before the 2010 World Cup, North Korean officials had tried to contact him in order to get a better signing position in the World Cup group.
Eriksen joined League Two club Knotts County in July 2009 when he was hired by Russell King (who plotted to buy Knotts County and was later proven fraudster) as the club's director of football. In October of the same year, under the arrangement of Russell King, they went to North Korea to "negotiate business". In a recent interview with the BBC, Eriksen revealed that he had been in contact with North Korean officials at the time.
"They (North Korean officials) know I'm a member of the FIFA Football Committee, 'Can you help us?' Erikson said that when the North Korean representative made such a request, he initially thought the other party wanted something like football or sneakers, so he gladly agreed. But then he learned that the other side wanted a better group, "they want me to help them draw a good lottery." Of course, I said, 'Is that really what I meant?' I can't do it, no one can do it. That's absolutely impossible, and even just trying is a crime. ”
"But they didn't believe it. They didn't seem to believe I couldn't provide such help – they just didn't want to. I guess that's the real reason I was invited to North Korea and told it was very important. Erikson said.
In the end, the North Korean team was divided with Brazil, Portugal and Côte d'Ivoire, and they lost 1-2 to Brazil, 0-7 to Portugal, 0-3 to Côte d'Ivoire, and three consecutive defeats to bid farewell to South Africa.