IKENWA NNABUOGOR ponders embattled Samson Siasia’s pitiable predicament and wonders why the former Super Eagles coach has been left alone on this…
This is certainly the best time for the former Super Eagles’ and Olympic Eagles’ coach Samson Siasia’s as he resigns to begging for funds to appeal his FIFA life ban.
UB 40, the popular British reggae group must have had Siasia in mind in their chart-bursting song ‘King’, where are your people now, as the army of people surrounding the embattled former FC Nantes striker are yet to come to his desperate call to appeal FIFA’s hammer on March 11, 2020.
Siasia threw shame overboard to launch an internet appeal from well-meaning people around the world to help him raise $250, 000 required to appeal his life ban.
As at last count, donation had only reached a paltry $300, a dangerous far cry from the $250,000 target.
Distraught Siasia had also resorted to mental calculations, that should 200,000 people throw their weight behind him for only N500, he would be able to raise the money for his fast-approaching March appeal date.
The global governing body had slammed the former Lokeren striker, 52, with a life ban for throwing games for cash in collaboration with some Singaporean businessmen.
Siasia’s protégés scattered all over the European clubs earning good money, as well as his associates, his former employers, NFF and his home state, Bayelsa that named a stadium after him, have yet to respond to his desperate pleas, leaving people to wonder what’s actually going on.
This is an interesting headache for the embattled Siasia as his boys have continued to turn blind eye to his video trending seriously on social media.
The questions now are: could they have abandoned the coach in his time of urgent need?
Could they be harbouring some ill-feelings against their former coach so much so that they have abandoned him to his fate?
Or is it that his prominent players, who honoured the country with their 2005 U-20 World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics with second best finish apiece, are not aware of their former coach’s predicament?
It remains to be seen if his ex-boys will come to his rescue.
Are his former employers NFF just watching to see what will become of their ex-employee should he fail to raise the needed cash?
Could they also be bitter with him viz a viz his love-hate relationship with them when he was in charge of the various national teams?
The fans are also not left out as many are compounding his misery for their unsavoury comments they made in the social media, accusing him of truncating the future of some promising players on unconfirmed cases of bribery.
In truth, Siasia was not alone in this crime for which he was hammered for, there should be some unseen hands locally in business with him and those conspirators are walking freely while the Sword of Domacles came down hard on the former Super Eagles’ boss’ head.
Siasia’s many troubles also included bearing the agony of having his mother in the kidnappers’ dens twice.
Siasia’s long list of troubles is age-long as this is not the first time he would incur FIFA’s wrath, he was among the three players that were banned for three years for age discrepancies in 1989.
Indeed, this is the time for Siasia’s “people” to come and offer him a hand.
