Former Nigeria’s Head Coach, Samson Siasia, has been banned for life and fined $51,035 by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) for match-fixing.
The 52-year-old was the coach of Nigeria’s National Team between 2010 and 2011, and for a while in 2016, but the time period when he committed the offence is unclear.
In a statement, Siasia was found ‘guilty of having accepted that he would receive bribes in relation to the manipulation of matches.’
The sanction stems from an ongoing ‘large-scale investigation’ FIFA is conducting into the behaviour of Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match-fixer from Singapore.
Siasia is the third African linked to Perumal to be banned by FIFA after former Sierra Leone FA official, Abu Bakarr Kabba, and former Botswana FA official, Mooketsi Kgotlele, were suspended in July for five years and for life respectively.
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The former player and coach won the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria, playing 51 games between 1984 and 1999.
His coaching career in Nigeria and India was between 2005 and 2016.
NB: The 50,000 fine was in Swiss Franc (CHF). 1 CHF is the equivalent of $1.2 (I dollar 2 cents).