Former Super Eagles Head Coach Samson Siasia who was handed a life ban on everything relating to football by FIFA has come out to still appeal as the charges are false according to him. Samson was given a life ban by the football governing body FIFA after a report has was involve in match fixing.
The former Nigerian player and coach said the allegations against him are false and he should be given fair hearing to clear his name. He was said to have connive with a popular match-fixer by the name Wilson Raj Perumal in Singapore to fix a match which is against FIFA rule and code of conduct.
Samson Siasia claimed he was only negotiating for a coaching job with someone who contacted him for the job. He only got to find out the said person who he was doing the negotiation with has been in the FIFA black book for match fixing. He is on the opinion that was never aware of the persons record with FIFA and he was in line discussing his own business which is coaching.
No game or club side was mentioned by the governing body but the 51-year-old Nigerian was given a life ban. Repors has it that he had negotiated the qualification of Nigerian nation team for the 2010 world Cup. The said tournament which Nigeria finished fourth in their group with Argentine leading the group.
Perumal confessed to the crime in his book, he said he helped Nigeria to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. According to “It is clear that Fifa relied only on some emails about 10 years ago when I was approached for a possible coaching job and not for match-fixing or bribery as FIFA claimed they banned me for life for.
According to Siasia he said: “It is clear that I was falsely accused of match fixing. Despite not fixing any match and despite not receiving any money FIFA insisted on banning me for life just for being approached to take up a coaching job.” Samson Siasia’s lawyer has submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“Siasia has submitted his statement of appeal to CAS in Switzerland, asking the court to stop FIFA’s decision until his appeal is heard. His associate Opukiri Jones-Ere said in an interview “he has galvanized all resources and the deserved courage to clear his name and unchain himself from the FIFA ban.”“He has also vowed to go to the end of his life to show that he is innocent,” Jones-Ere said.
The football governing body FIFA has found him guiity based on their judgement on the 16th of August last year. FIFA said in a statement that the adjudicatory chamber of its independent ethics committee found the 51-year-old Siasia guilty.
He was “guilty of having accepted that he will receive bribes in relation to manipulation of matches in violation of FIFA Code of Ethics.” But the latest development which Mr. Opukiri Jones-Ere has Samson Siasia’s layer lawyer we do hope something good could come out for the Nigerian former coach.
