Second Batch Of Tapes Could Surface

Lord Triesman’s mistress Melissa Jacobs has a second batch of tapes that could become public, according to reports published Tuesday.

On the new tapes, Triesman is said to allege connections between Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and the Russian mafia.

The tapes, however, may not be released, as the Mail on Sunday weighs the potential backlash from releasing information that could further damage the nation’s chance to get the 2018 World Cup.

Tuesday’s reports also shed light on Melissa Jacob’s feelings toward what has transpired over the last 48 hours:

Though friends of Ms Jacobs said yesterday that she was surprised to find that Triesman had been removed so quickly from his positions, there seems to be no residual sympathy for the man who employed her as an aide when he was a minister at the Department for Innovation, Skills and Training. An interview which would furnish the Mail on Sunday with a second part to last Sunday’s story has not yet taken place and the 37-year-old is said to be “50:50” as to whether she will proceed.

Friends suggested that Ms Jacob, who follows football and is an Arsenal supporter, has taken some satisfaction from knowing that an individual who was so negative about the game is no longer involved in the 2018 bid. But there is no denying that money was an objective: Ms Jacobs is believed to have earned £75,000 from Sunday’s first tape-recorded revelations, in which Triesman’s bribery allegations were made. Sources say that it was a desire to divert the focus from the sexual relationship she alleges to have had with the 66-year-old which led her to take a tape recorder into a one-hour meeting she had with him two weeks ago in an attempt to see the emphasis shift to football issues.