Grant gets wife's backing

Grant was caught on camera by an undercover journalist leaving the premises on an industrial estate near Portsmouth's training ground in Eastleigh, Hampshire in December last year.

The Pompey boss, 54, may even be questioned as a police witness as investigations into the establishment, which closed this week, continue.

But Tzofit Grant, a television presenter in Israel, has been staunch in defence of her husband, insisting his visit was entirely innocent and claiming she has encouraged him to have massages to relieve aches and pains in the past.

"I don't understand all the fuss," said Mrs Grant, who lives in Tel Aviv. "Avram loves massages, also Australian massages and Japanese massages, as well as having massages from Thai women.

"I swear on my children's lives that I am not mad at him. If I am mad, it is because he does not get massages every day. He's the manager of Portsmouth. Do you know how tough that is?

"He's a great manager stuck in a crappy team. He works so hard, he needs two massages a day, and from two women, not one."

Mrs Grant has made a name for herself with a series of television stunts in Israel, including drinking her own urine, bathing in spaghetti and being spanked by a sado-masochist. She has also headed up her own show, Who's Afraid of Tzofit Grant?

She said the reports of her husband's visit to the premises failed to shock her, even though an undercover reporter from a tabloid newspaper was offered full sexual intercourse for £130 last year.

"He went to get a Thai massage. No one until now has proved this is a brothel," she said.

"Be reasonable; who goes to a brothel in the middle of the day while wearing a Portsmouth uniform when he knows he is a famous person? The place in question is a massage parlour; a place where you get massages.

"Anyway, whether or not my husband went to an escort agency, it's not my business and it certainly is not the business of the media.

"When Avram called me this morning and told me about the headlines, I told him he doesn't even have to reveal the details to me and certainly not to a newspaper. This is a private matter.

"Even if I suspected that my husband did actually go to a brothel, I would keep it to myself. The truth is that if Avram wanted to go to a brothel, it is his right. He can do whatever he likes with his body."

Grant's position as Portsmouth manager is not believed to be under threat as a result of the reports and he is expected to remain in charge of the cash-strapped club, which was taken over for a fourth time this year on Thursday.