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Former Nigerian football star, Samson Siasia, has broken his silence on the FIFA bribery allegations, revealing his frustration with the Nigerian Football Federation and FIFA's handling of the situation.
Siasia was banned by FIFA after he was accused of getting involved in a bribery case a few years back.
He was handed a five-year ban after several investigations were carried out regarding the bribery allegation.
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Siasia’s allegations and frustrations
In an exclusive interview, as reported on X, Siasia shared his side of the story, shedding light on the challenges he faced during the investigation and subsequent ban.
Siasia said, "Well, first of all, I felt bad that Nigerian abandoned me at a time of need as my own take on how this thing actually played out. It's an allegation.
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“They said bribery, what bribery, is it not when money changes hands, was there proof of that? That was not? I spoke to someone that's trying to hire me as a coach in Australia, didn't know the guy was a match-fixer.
"But FIFA knew this guy, why would they allow him to be around anything in FIFA tournaments or any organized tournament? They allowed him.
“So when they found out through emails, our correspondent, how this guy would take me to Australia, I was excited because, you know, I played in the I said, man, it would be nice for me to go back there.
“We talked about how much salaries transfer and bonuses and fees and all that was all that we talked about.
"So when FIFA was looking for me, I didn't even know. So I'm not affiliated with FIFA, FIFA is affiliated with the Nigerian Football Federation.
“So if FIFA is looking for me, where would they go? They went to NFF, they say they shouldn't tell me they are investigating me. Then they sent me a letter, the letter went into my box. They went on until the last two days before the ban.
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"Then I found out that FIFA was looking for me then we tried to see how we can communicate back to them so that I can have a hearing, but I said the time has elapsed that I should go to CAS, CAS will handle those matters.
“That was how even for me to do that was like two days for me, so I picked one lawyer to find sports lawyers in the country. It was not easy.
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“Just because Nigeria couldn't stand on that feet to say, let's know what's going on and let's take care of our legend. Everybody ran away.
“I started begging for money from here to there. But when this ban is over, they will say come back. Is it not also? Yeah, that's, that's what's gonna happen.
"So I have to take my own lawyers. We did the Zoom meeting for the hearing, and after all that, FIFA gave me a life ban and five years. Why would you give someone five years after a life ban? But they were trying to save their face so I can’t sue them.
“Now they say five years, five years for what? Prove what I've done. So these guys have just smeared my name and just made me look like I'm under the valley and within all this our federation, what did they do all to this moment? Nothing. They just let me all by myself."
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