Former Super Eagles and Olympic Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia has disclosed that his ban from football related activities by FIFA will elapse in 2024.
Siasia who lead the U-20 Flying Eagles to win silver at 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Netherlands and Olympic silver medal in 2008, said although he had thought his five-year ban would expire this year, he added that a careful study of the documents (relating to his ban) showed that he would return to football next year
“I thought I was going to be free by this year (2023) and I was so excited,” Siasia said in a radio interview on Kennis 104.1FM
“But I had to look through the document that FIFA served me, and I found out that it was going to be next year.
“By next year, in August 2024, I will be free from the FIFA ban, and hopefully I will be back to football.”
Siasia added that the past years without him being involved in football have been terrible. He noted that despite the duration of the ban, he has been preparing himself to bounce back from the setback
“Irrespective of what happened, I have learned my lessons, but FIFA, who initially gave me a life ban in football, could not prove anything wrong with what they claimed I did. But they had to reduce it to a five-year ban, and it will expire next year. I thank God for that.
“It has been terrible to be away from football for five years, but I am preparing myself to come back to football, so I have to prepare myself so I can start ‘running’ once I resume by next year.”
The former Super Eagles of Nigeria coach was banned from all football-related activities over attempts to manipulate matches at international level.
The world football’s governing body said it opened disciplinary proceedings after a vast investigation into various international matches that Singaporean Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match-fixer, had attempted to manipulate for betting purposes.
“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found Mr. Samson Siasia, a former official of the Nigeria Football Federation, guilty of having accepted that he would receive bribes in relation to the manipulation of matches in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics,” FIFA statement said in 201
Although the ban was intially announced to be a life long ban, following a partial appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS by Siasia, the ban was reduced to five years.
