The Court of Arbitration for Sports,, has fixed October 6 for the hearing of the appeal filed by a former Super Eagles player and Coach, Samson Siasia, over his life ban by FIFA.
Mr Siasia is appealing against the decision of FIFA that banned him over allegations of attempting to fix a match without giving him a fair hearing.
Speaking with THISDAY on Monday from Abuja, Siasia confirmed the new date, stressing that it is his only chance to prove his innocence.
“We have a date now at CAS for the hearing fixed for 6th of October in Switzerland,” observed the two-time Olympic Games medal-winning coach with Nigeria’s Under-23 team.
Before the earlier appeal was moved from the March 19 hearing date due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Siasia was scheduled to meet CAS’s panel of jurists at the CAS Court Office, Avenue de Beaumont 2, 1012, Lausanne, Switzerland.
The world arbitration body on disputes in sports had written to Mr Siasia on December 27, 2019 inviting him and FIFA representatives and their witnesses to appear at the hearing scheduled to hold at 9.30 hours Swiss time.
Although Mr Siasia has not been able to raise the 100,000 Swiss franc (about $100,000) appeal fees, he however remains optimistic that the promises made to him by prominent Nigerians will be fulfilled. “I will be able to raise the appeal fees before October,” observed the ex-international.
The embattled former Eagles Coach once again solicited financial support from all and sundry, friends and eminent Nigerians to help him raise funds to be able to attend the CAS hearing in order to clear his name concerning the FIFA allegations.
Not much has been realized from the GoFundMe appeal initiated to raise money to fund his case at CAS.
