Siasia Loses Suit Seeking to Upturn FIFA Ban in US

Samson Siasia’s hope of overturning his five-year ban for alleged match fixing by FIFA suffered hiccups on Thursday as a U.S appeals court has dismissed the case.

The former Nigerian player and coach had dragged the world soccer governing body before the court , seeking to overturn his lifetime ban, later reduced to five years for match fixing.

But in a 3-0 decision on Thursday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Samson Siasia did not show why a trial court in New York had jurisdiction over his case.

FIFA had in 2019 imposed the lifetime ban, saying Siasia violated its code of ethics over a bribery scheme for Australian league matches. The ban prevented Siasia from using his U.S. Soccer Federation coaching license to work.

However, Siasia, an Atlanta resident sued FIFA in August 2021, saying the evidence was “grossly insufficient” and that the ban violated his due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.

But the appeals court said Siasia did not show that FIFA was “essentially at home” in New York, or agreed to be sued there because it banned his use of what Siasia called his “New York” coaching license from its alleged New York “agent,” U.S. Soccer.