Former Super Eagles and Nigeria U23 coach, Samson Siasia, has alleged that former Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, attempted to bribe his way into Nigeria’s 2008 Olympic squad after he snubbed the qualification rounds.
Speaking during a recent interview with Elegbete TV Sports, which was uploaded to YouTube on Monday, Siasia alleged that Mikel’s agent offered him a bribe of €50,000 to secure Mikel’s inclusion in the team heading to the Beijing Olympics.
Siasia recounted how he had earlier pleaded with Mikel, who at the time was struggling for game time at Chelsea, to join the team for the crucial Olympic qualifiers, but the midfielder allegedly declined.
“Mikel wasn’t a starter at Chelsea then, he was on the bench. I told him we only had one game against Ghana to play – please come and help us. I said if he doesn’t come, he won’t go anywhere. But Mikel refused to come, saying he was playing in Chelsea,” Siasia stated.
“Nothing happened, we played very well, at the end of the day 0-0, we qualified,” he added, referring to the decisive goalless draw against Ghana that secured Nigeria’s place at the tournament.
According to Siasia, Mikel only showed interest in joining the team after the ticket to Beijing had already been sealed.
“Going to the Olympics, Mikel wants to come and play. His agent said he would give me €50,000 so Mikel should play.“
“I said it’s not about €50,000. He didn’t play the qualifiers, so I will take out someone that qualified us and bring you in? It won’t happen. That’s why Mikel didn’t go,” the former coach said.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Nigeria Football Federation nor John Obi Mikel has issued any official response to Siasia’s allegations.
Meanwhile, in August 2024, Mikel revealed that he single-handedly funded the U-23 Eagles team’s flight to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
During his podcast, The Obi One Podcast, posted on YouTube, Mikel exposed the corruption within the NFF.
He stated that he had to personally cover the team’s travel expenses to ensure their participation in the tournament.
Mikel, who was the team’s captain and one of the three overage players, recalled the frustrating experience at the airport, where the team waited from morning till night for a flight that never came.
According to Mikel, the NFF leadership failed to disburse the government-funded allocation for the team’s flight to the tournament, despite the time-sensitive nature of the situation.