MATCH FIXING: Siasia loses suit seeking to overturn FIFA ban in US

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Former Super Eagles striker Samson Yebowei Siasia has lost his suit seeking to overturn a ban slammed on him by the world football governing body FIFA over match-fixing allegations.

The suit seeking an upturn in Siasia’s ban was ruled against by a court in the US after it awarded a 3-0 decision ruling in favour of FIFA on Thursday at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

The court further ruled that Siasia did not show why a trial court in New York had jurisdiction over his case.

As revealed by CAS, in 2010, a match-fixer tried to involve Siasia as a coach of a club under his strict instructions. With the promise of employment benefits, Siasia would have had to always field several players under the control of the match-fixer.

The negotiations between the match-fixer simply identified as Perumal and Siasia in relation to the conditions of employment were conducted by email over a period of two months.

Eventually, the club did not accept or could not afford Mr Siasia’s requests and the negotiations ended.

In one of the handful of emails exchanged between Perumal and Siasia and sighted by this paper, Siasia appeared eager to get the job he was being offered despite some of the illegal clauses being pushed by the match-fixer.

“You have a reputation as a silver medalist coach at the Beijing Olympics. I wish to be transparent with you in this matter. I am going to take over a club. I want to engage you as the head coach. It is an Australia ‘A’ league team.

READ ALSO: Siasia sues FIFA, seeks compensation for ‘damage’ done to his reputation over alleged bribery case

“You know my nature of business. I will personally bring in 5 Players and dictate the show. You will do your coaching job and play along. I will not drag you into what I am doing. My players will take instructions from me. You will have to just close one eye and do your coaching job. There is no relegation in this league. No one can fire you. What amount will u be asking for as salary,” Perumal said in one of his emails to Siasia.

Though seeking to know the extra details of the monetary terms he was being offered, Siasia was also cautious in his approach.

“Am I going to pay taxes on this amount if agreed, and what about signing on fees, accommodation, and car,” Siasia asked.

“Also need to know about flight tickets for me and my family. I will be waiting for your soonest response because I have other offers I am looking at,” Siasia added in one correspondence.

The evidence established against Siasia by FIFA led to his ban, which effectively prevented him from using his U.S. Soccer Federation coaching license and also barred him from any other involvement in football globally.

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