CAS reduce Samson Siasia’s life ban to 5 years!

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has reduced former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia’s life ban from all football activities to five years.

In 2019, FIFA sanctioned Samson Siasia for accepting to “receive bribes about the manipulation of matches.” The 53-year-old had appealed the sanction, denying the charges leveled against him.

However, CAS said it “determined the imposition of a life ban to be disproportionate for a first offense 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 Mr. Siasia.”

A fine of 50,000 CHF imposed on the former Nigerian striker by FIFA was also set aside.

“(CAS) acknowledged the need for sanctions to be sufficiently high enough to eradicate bribery and especially match-fixing in football,” the judges ruled.

“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 Mr. Siasia.

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