How I paid for U-23 Eagles flight to 2016 Olympics – Mikel

Aug 16, 2024

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John Mikel Obi has revealed how he paid for the U-23 Eagles team’s flight to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

Mikel was one of the three overage players named in the squad by then handler of the team, Samson Siasia.

The former Chelsea midfielder was also handed the captain’s armband, leading the team to third position in the men’s football event.

The former Lyn Oslo of Norway star however revealed how poor planning on the part of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) nearly scuppered the team’s ambition.

“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.”