After FIFA ban, Samson Siasia sets sights on football return

Former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia has revealed that he is eager to return to football after learning his lessons during his period of ban.

It will be recalled that the World Football governing body, FIFA, banned Siasia from all football activities for life in August 2019 and fined him $50,000 for admitting to match manipulation’ for betting purposes.

FIFA banned Siasia from football following an intensive investigation into attempted match-fixing by Wilson Perumal and the Nigerian coach.

Following Siasia’s appeal, the ban was reduced to five years by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in 2021, with the ban set to lapse in August 2024.

“I thought I was going to be free by this year (2023), and I was so excited. 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.

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“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,” he said in a radio interview on Kennis 104.1FM.