Siasia gets FIFA relief, life ban reduced to five years

The former coach of the Super Eagles, Samson Siasia, on Monday derived a relief over life ban by FIFA for bribery offences from a court judgement. The former coach of the Nigerian national team got the relief from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which reduced the life ban placed on him from coaching job to five years.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a judgment on Monday, expressed that it “determined the imposition of a life ban to be disproportionate for a first offence which was committed passively, and which had not had an adverse or immediate effect on football stakeholders, and that a five-year ban would still achieve the envisaged aim of punishing the infringement committed by Siasia.”

FIFA sanctioned Siasia in 2019 for accepting to “receive bribes in relation to the manipulation of matches.” The Nigerian coach appealed the punishment, denying the accusations.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)  farther nullified a fine of $5,000 imposed in Siasia by FIFA, also, backdatied the life ban to begin from 16 August 2019.

The Judges in their judgement declared: “(Cas) acknowledged the need for sanctions to be sufficiently high enough to eradicate bribery and especially match-fixing in football.

“However, the Panel considered in the particular circumstances of this matter that it would be inappropriate and excessive to impose a financial sanction in addition to the five-year ban, since the ban sanction already incorporated a financial punishment in eliminating football as a source of revenue for Siasia.

“And considering that Siasia had not obtained any gain or pecuniary benefit from his unethical behaviour.”

By the judgement, Siasia may have already served two years of his five years ban by the court, now left with three years to go.