Sven-Goran Eriksson has received a damages pay-out over the sting which he says was the reason for his five-year tenure as England manager ending, Sportsmail can reveal.

The 69-year said he had won a civil claim over undercover News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood’s ‘Fake Sheikh’ sting on him in 2006. The Swede did not disclose the level of damages but told Sportsmail that the damages against Mahmood – who was jailed 12 months ago for perverting the course of justice - could not fully compensate him for the loss of ‘the best job you can have.’

Eriksson said: We won the case but I lost my job. They did it to put me in big, big trouble before the World Cup. You have to respect the press. It’s good that they can write what they want to. But that made sad and angry and I lost my job. It took a year but we won our case.’

Sven-Goran Eriksson has received a damages pay-out over a ‘Fake Sheikh’ sting in 2006

News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood was jailed for perverting the course of justice

Mahmood was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment last October after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, following the collapse of a trial against former singer Tulisa Contostavlos. This prompted a string of civil claims against him from celebrities who were discredited following his so-called undercover investigations. It was thought at the time that claims from many of Mahmood’s victims could cost publisher News UK £800m.

Mahmood met Eriksson on a boat in Dubai in January 2006 and recorded him saying he would leave to manage Aston Villa if England won the World Cup in Germany later that year.

The FA announced within weeks that he would leave his job after the 2006 World Cup. Though the governing body later denied that the sting had played a part, Eriksson - who has been out of football since parting company with the Chinese side Shenzhen FC in June - feels otherwise.

Under Eriksson, England reached the quarter final in 2006, losing on penalties to Portugal

The former executive director of the FA, David Davies, said in his autobiography that the governing body’s chief executive Brian Barwick was determined to announce after the controversy that Eriksson would be parting company with England.

‘His mood was obviously now anti-Sven,’ Davies wrote. ’He had always hankered after a coach of his choice. Brian was pretty fired up over Sven’s behaviour.’

Eriksson’s England reached the quarter final in Germany, losing on penalties to Portugal, and have not advanced so far into the tournament in the 11 years since he stepped down. ‘For me and the managers before me there were huge expectations,’ he said. ‘They were not talking about the semis – it was the final and that’s it. Perhaps the expectation is not quite as high these days. But I loved it.’