‘The door will be slammed in your face’ - AFCON winner warns Siasia from taking Super Eagles job

The former Super Eagles player recently ended his 5-year FIFA ban and is available for a coaching job.

He has declared his willingness to manage the Super Eagles again, following the completion of his five-year ban for match-fixing. 

The Olympic silver medalist has coached the Super Eagles on two different occasions but has been warned about taking up the job.

Two months have gone after Finidi George resigned from the Super Eagles in June 2024, but the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has yet to appoint a replacement technical adviser.

The Super Eagles are apparently interested in hiring Samson Siasia as their new head coach after finishing his suspension.

Despite this, he has been encouraged not to accept the role by Segun Odegbemi, a 1980 AFCON champion.

Odegbami stated, according to the Vanguard, "He was once acknowledged as FIFA's coach of the year. 

"That was when he led Nigeria's Under-20 to the finals of the World Youth Championship in 2005, the under-23 national team to the finals of the Olympics in 2008, and a third place at the Olympics in 2016.

"In 2019, Samson Siasia was suspended by FIFA for 5 years following unsubstantiated charges of corruption against him. Having served the suspension, he is now free to return to football. 

“He may have been pencilled down as part of an interim consortium of coaches headed by the Director of the Technical Department of the NFF, Austin Eguavoen, to handle the Super Eagles should a foreign coach not be hired in the next week.

"That arrangement is laden with danger for Samson. Should the team fail to win, his name will be added to those of other 'failed' Nigerian coaches, and the door to a future as head of the Super Eagles will be slammed in his face.”

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will play Rwanda and the Benin Republic in September to start their 2025 AFCON qualification campaign.