FIFA Reschedule Samson Siasia Life Ban Appeal Till October

October 6, 2020, is now the new date the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) will hear Samson Siasia’s appeal in the wake of his FIFA ban.

In a letter to Siasia on Monday from CAS with registration number: CAS 2019/A/6439 Samson Siasia v. FIFA requested that:

“Samson Siasia shall pay the total amount of CHF 100’000 (One hundred thousand Swiss francs) to the CAS bank account.
“The estimate includes the CAS administrative costs and the costs and fees if the Panel. Accordingly, the first advance of costs in the arbitration CAS 2019/A/6439 Samson Siasia v FIFA shall be fixed at CHF 100’000 (One hundred thousand Swiss francs.)

“If a party fails to pay its share, another may substitute for it, in case of nonpayment within the time limit fixed by CAS, the request/appeal shall be deemed withdrawn and the CAS shall terminate the arbitration, this provision applies mutatis mutandis to any counterclaims.

It also clarified that: “FIFA does not pay any arbitration cost in advance when it acts as Respondent in a procedure before CAS, which is admissible to CAS pursuant to Article R 64.2 of the Code.”

FIFA did not specify when Siasia’s alleged violations occurred but said in a statement: “The adjudicatory chamber of the independent ethics committee has found Mr Samson Siasia, a former official of the Nigeria Football Federation, guilty of having accepted that he would receive bribes in relation to the manipulation of matches in violation of the FIFA code of ethics.

“The formal ethics proceedings against Mr Siasia were initiated on February 11, 2019, and stem from an extensive investigation into matches Mr Wilson Raj Perumal attempted to manipulate for betting purposes.”

Singaporean Perumal is a known former serial match-fixer who served prison time for past offences, and who has previously alleged to have influenced results involving Nigeria.