Siasia denies FIFA’s allegations

Samson Siasia, former Super Eagles coach, has denied FIFA’s claims of bribery and corruption meted against him.

Siasia who made this known on Friday to the former super Eagles Media officer, Colin Udo, said he is not aware of the allegation, which he is hearing for the first time, and  had done nothing wrong to be banned.

“I don’t know  anything about this. I did nothing wrong and I have not received any letter from FIFA”, he said.

He added that FIFA is yet to notify him  on the ban he was placed on, as he was never invited by the international football body to reveal his part in the story.

However, the former Eagles coach said, he would leave no stone unturned in order to clear his name.

Meanwhile, FIFA has confirmed the ban on Siasia.

FIFA, who made this decision known through its website, insisted that Mr. Siasia was notified about his life ban on Friday.

According to the statement the body made,“the decision was notified to Mr Siasia today, the date on which the ban comes into force.”

Adding that, Siasia was found 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 had also said that, “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 carried out by its competent departments and in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and authorities.

In its decision, the adjudicatory chamber found that Mr Siasia had breached   act. 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 of 50,000 US Dollars