Siasia vows to return bigger, stronger

Former Super Eagles coach, Samson Siasia has vowed that he would come back bigger and stronger after his five-year FIFA ban ends in August 2024.

Recall that Siasia, an ex-Super Eagles star, who won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, was banned by the world football governing body, FIFA, from all football activities for life in August 2019 and fined 50,000 Swiss Francs after he was allegedly found guilty of accepting an offer to receive bribes to alter the outcome of matches.

Siasia’s suspension followed an extensive investigation into matches in which convicted Singaporean serial match-fixer Wilson Perumal was involved.

After his successful appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS, reduced Siasia’s life ban to five years and also dismissed the 50,000 Swiss Francs he had been ordered to pay.

The CAS panel concluded that a life sentence was “disproportionate for a first offence committed passively and with no adverse or immediate effect on football stakeholders.”

Siasia admitted that the FIFA ban broke him as he had only known football for three-quarters of his life, whether as a player or coach.

“It’s 2024, it is almost over. So, I just need to build again, to be strong moving forward. I was doing very well as a coach before this ban hit me. But it’s almost over, and I’m coming back bigger and stronger,” he said.