Former Nigeria coach, Samson Siasia has reacted to the ban from FIFA. On Friday, August 16, the football regulatory body FIFA banned him from all football activities for life after being found guilty of accepting to receive bribes in order to manipulate matches.
In his reaction, Siasia had a chat with veteran sports journalist, Colin Udoh where he’s quoted to have said, “I don’t know anything about this. I did nothing wrong and I have not received any letter from FIFA.”
According to Udoh, ‘Siasia also told me -very angrily – that he was never invited to defend himself and is hearing about all of this for the first time’.
Here is the report by The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) :
“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.
“The formal ethics proceedings against Mr. Siasia were initiated on 11 February 2019 and stem from an extensive investigation into matches that Mr. Wilson Raj Perumal attempted to manipulate for betting purposes. “This large-scale investigation was conducted by FIFA via its competent departments and in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and authorities.
“In its decision, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr. Siasia had breached art. 11 (Bribery) of the 2009 edition of the FIFA Code of Ethics and banned him for life from all football-related activities (administrative, sports or any other) at both national and international level. “In addition, a fine in the amount of CHF 50,000 has been imposed on Mr. Siasia. The decision was notified to Mr. Siasia today, the date on which the ban comes into force.”
