Former Super Eagles captain and Chelsea great John Mikel Obi said he had to cough out $30,000 dollars to ensure the Nigeria U-23 team catch their flight to Rio, Brazil for the 2016 Olympics Games.
Mikel who was reflecting on Nigeria’s performance at the Paris 2016 Games, captained the Nigeria team coached by Samson Siasia to a bronze medal finish, and it was the only medal won by the country. The team was in danger of missing their first game when Mikel one of the overaged players invited to the team stepped in.
“When I represented my country at the Olympics in Brazil, we had to fly there, and we waited from morning till night, waiting for a plane to take us to Brazil,” Mikel said on his podcast.
“There was no plane to take us to Brazil because there was in-fighting behind the scene of who was going to pick up the tab.
“The FA didn’t want to pick up the tab, the government I think released the money, but the FA or whoever the money got into his hands refused to release the money.
“So we waited at the airport from morning till night but there was no flight. I had to pay for that flight to take us to Brazil. And these are little things.”
