Former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia claims that the Nigeria Football Federation supported FIFA's decision to ban him for alleged match-fixing in August 2019.

In a recent interview with Athlist, the 56-year-old, whose ban expires in a few months, claimed that the NFF not only declined to help him, but also followed FIFA's instructions not to inform him that he was under investigation by the international football body.

"Nigeria abandoned me at that time of need; that's my own take on how this thing played out," stated the former Eagles striker and 1994 AFCON-winning squad member.

“It’s an allegation; they said bribery. What is bribery? Is it not when money changes hands? Was there any proof of that? There were none.

"I spoke with someone who wanted to hire me as a coach in Australia. I had no idea he was a match fixer, but FIFA was aware of him. Why would they allow him to attend any FIFA tournament?

"So, when they found out through emails and correspondence that this person was going to take me to Australia, I thought it would be good to go back there.

"We just discussed how much wages, transfers, bonuses, and sign-on fees cost.

"I didn't even realize FIFA was looking for me. I am not linked with FIFA; they are affiliated with the NFF. So they went to the NFF and instructed them not to inform me that they were investigating me. But if they didn't tell me, how could I defend myself?

Siasia continued, "Then they sent me a letter, but it got to spam. Two days before the ban, I learned that FIFA was looking for me.


"Then we started looking into how we could speak with them so that I could have a hearing. But they stated the deadline had passed and I should go to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports).

"It took me around two days. Finding a sports lawyer in this country is difficult. You can't seem to find one. So we struggled and persevered. I can tell you that the boy we hired to prepare my appeal brief so that I could have that hearing is still suing me today.

"It's been dragging since he stated I had to pay €300,000 even though our original arrangement was in euros. I'm still battling with that one since Nigerians couldn't stand up and see what was going on."

Siasia took nearly two years to appeal the ban, which he finally did in June 2021 at CAS, resulting in a five-year suspension and the cancelation of the additional fine of 50,000 Swiss francs ($54,000).

Siasia is one of Nigeria's top coaches in history, having led the U20 and U23 teams to silver medals at the 2005 World Cup and the men's football event at the 2008 Olympics.

A few months before coming under the FIFA hammer, Siasia was one of 77 applicants for the then vacant Cameroon national team job.