June 30, (THEWILL) – When THEWILL reported the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to reduce the life ban FIFA slammed on retired Super Eagles’ midfielder and coach Samson Siasia to a five-year period, an altercation between the 53-year-old and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development was not envisaged.
However, that is what is transpiring in a string of accusations and counter-accusations bedevilling the relations between these two men, with Siasia’s finger-pointing and the Honourable Minister of Sports firing back with accusations of Siasia not being entirely honest about the facts.
As THEWILL reported on Monday, June 21, CAS, the final arbiter in resolving legal disputes in the field of sports, reduced to five years the maximum penalty of a life ban imposed on Samson Siasia by FIFA in a match-fixing case in 2019 after FIFA’s investigations of the notorious Singaporean match-fixer, Wilson Perumal, revealed a Siasia connection.
The statement from the judges at CAS said they found: “the imposition of a life ban to be disproportionate for a first offence which was committed passively and which had not had an adverse or immediate effect on football stakeholders.”
The arbitration did not only reduce the life ban, it completely overturned the monetary fine of about N18 million that FIFA attached to the life ban. By the authority of CAS therefore, Siasia could return to football administration and management when his ban expires in August 2024, if he so desired.
After an initial reticence immediately following the CAS reversal, Siasia held a Press Conference in Abuja on Friday where he disclosed that he met Dare after the ban and that, in his words, “all the Minister could say was that there was no money.”
The Minister, Dare, did not welcome the accusation but instead insisted that Siasia received some money, the details of which still existed. He was quoted as saying: “Siasia is not telling the truth and the ministry and the government will come out with the facts of the cash he collected and the efforts we made. He is not telling the truth.”
In a formal statement released from the office of the Minister to counter Siasia’s account of events, the official explanation states: “The Minister stayed on top of the case by pulling all strings to assist Siasia. In addition to the governors of Edo, Delta, and Lagos, he made an appeal to the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, the Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi.
“In another instance, the Minister took Siasia on a visit to the then Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson to appeal for support for him.
“Siasia’s claim that government did nothing to assist him is untrue, deceitful, and misleading. While there are no budgetary provisions for such incidents, the ministry and the Office of the Minister gave Siasia all the support that led to the mitigation of his life ban from football-related activities.”
But Siasia is adamant that there is no proof in the claims of financial outlay from the Minister. The former Under-23 team manager, whose Olympic teams won silver and bronze representing Nigeria, challenged Dare to provide evidence.
He said: “If he (Dare) has any proof of how they (the government) helped me, they should bring it out, I’m not running away. It’s not a problem. I said the government didn’t help me. I met with him (Dare), he’s a nice guy and he was trying to help but he could not. What did I say that was bad there?
“I met him a week after he assumed office and he said they didn’t have money, so I went to Femi Adesina (Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity) and he sent me back to the Sports Minister.
“I told Adesina that I came to see the President (Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)), to see if he could talk to Dare to help me, but he said I should go back to the Minister. I have letters to that effect. I’m not saying he (Dare) did not do his best, I only said he could not help me because he just assumed office.
“If he has any proof that the Federal Government helped me, they should bring it out. Nobody is hiding anything here. I’m just disappointed they did not do anything. Private sector and some governors did, but ask Dare what did the FG do for me?
“He made effort to talk to people and that was it. Through him, I texted someone and he gave me money. Maybe that’s the help he is talking about. But it is not the government but an individual. I have nothing against the Minister, but if he has proof of where the government gave me money, he should come out with it.”
It is obvious that the last has not been heard of the accusations and counter-accusations with the truth not being known for the time being. However, the availability of proof and evidence may well be the next stage that the drama goes with the possibility of a twist in the story.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
