Samson Siasia was a well-respected man in Nigerian football and has many things to improve national football but fell into a scandal and was banned by FIFA.
Samson Siasia is a Nigerian former professional football striker and the former head coach of the Nigeria national team from 2010 to October 2011. He was reappointed in 2016.
During Samson Siasia playing days He played 51 international matches for Nigeria, in which he scored thirteen goals, and was part of the team that participated in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He was also a member of the Nigerian team that won bronze at 1992 African Nations Cup in Senegal. He participated in the national team over a period of 11 years and was recognized in Nigeria as the third leading scorer for the national team.
At club level, Siasia most notably played for French team FC Nantes where he became league champion in 1994–95. He also played for Australian club Perth Glory , as well as in Belgium, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
In 2005, Samson Siasia coached the under 20 team (Flying Eagles), taking them to the finals of both the 2005 Under-20 World Cup and the U-20 African Youth Championship. He won the African Youth Championship and advanced all the way to the world final – before losing to Argentina 2–1. He also assisted Augustine Eguavoen in coaching the national team.
Samson Siasia was appointed national U-23 coach in January 2007. In 2008, he coached the Nigerian Under-23 Olympic squad to the final against Argentina. In a superbly played series of matches, Nigeria’s team earned the Olympic Silver Medals. Earlier in 2008, the U-23 team won the inaugural Intercontinental Cup in Malaysia.
This team was composed entirely of domestic Nigerian players and won the Cup against many teams headed for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In addition to his position as head coach of the Under 23 Olympic Eagles, he developed a youth academy in the capital city Abuja, called SiaOne Soccer Academy. On 17 March 2009, he was reappointed as the head coach of the under-20 team after the finished a disappointing 3rd in the 2009 African Youth Championship. He received a six-month contract to coach Heartland F.C. in July 2010.
In August 2019 he was banned for life by FIFA for agreeing to receive bribes to fix soccer matches.
Samson Siasia was punished in a case from the investigation into renowned Singaporean match-fixer Wilson Perumal.
He said he would appeal but was in no rush to do so. In June 2021, Siasia’s appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport earned him a reduction of the suspension to five years and the cancellation of the additional fine of 50,000 Swiss francs ($54,000).
