Siasia’s life ban appeal gets October date
October 6, 2020 has been picked by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to hear Samson Siasia’s appeal in the wake of his FIFA ban.
The request was initially billed for March 19, 2020 but this had to be adjourned owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Nigeria head coach was banned for life from football after the sport’s ruling body found him guilty of agreeing to take bribes to manipulate matches.
The 51-year-old was also fined CHF50,000 (£42,000) for breaching Fifa’s code of ethics.
In a letter to Siasia on Monday from CAS with registration number: CAS 2019/A/6439 Samson Siasia v. Fifa requested that: “Samson Siasia shall pay the total amount of CHF 100’000 (One hundred thousand Swiss francs) to the CAS bank account.
“The estimate includes the CAS administrative costs and the costs and fees if the Panel. Accordingly, the first advance of costs in the arbitration CAS 2019/A/6439 Samson Siasia v Fifa shall be fixed at CHF 100’000 (One hundred thousand Swiss francs.)
“If a party fails to pay its share, another may substitute for it, in case of nonpayment within the time limit fixed by CAS, the request/appeal shall be deemed withdrawn and the CAS shall terminate the arbitration, this provision applies mutatis mutandis to any counterclaims.
It also clarified that: “Fifa does not pay any arbitration cost in advance when it acts as Respondent in a procedure before CAS, which is admissible to CAS pursuant to Article R 64.2 of the Code.”
Fifa did not specify when Siasia’s alleged violations occurred but said in a statement: “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.
“The formal ethics proceedings against Mr Siasia were initiated on February 11, 2019, and stem from an extensive investigation into matches Mr Wilson Raj Perumal attempted to manipulate for betting purposes.”
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Singaporean Perumal is a known former serial match-fixer who served prison time for past offences, and who has previously alleged to have influenced results involving Nigeria.
Siasia had a 15-year career with the Super Eagles as a player and was head coach between 2010 and 2011, as well as in 2016.
The former Nantes forward also had spells in charge of Nigeria’s U20 and U23 sides.