Former Nigeria Under-23 coach, Samson Siasia, said he didn’t name Mikel Obi in his Beijing 2008 Olympics squad because the then-footballer failed to turn up for a qualifier.
Siasia revealed that ahead of the Olympics, he had invited Mikel Obi to feature in the last qualification game, which was against Ghana. But the former Chelsea midfielder turned down the call with the excuse that he was busy with his club.
Fortunately for Nigeria, Siasia and his boys managed to record a 0-0 draw with Ghana, which was enough to qualify the Dream Team for the Olympics.
After Nigeria booked their place in the tournament, Mikel Obi, through his agent, attempted to bribe his way into the Olympic team, according to Siasia. However, the coach refused to accept the €50,000 bribe.
Nigeria went to the Beijing 2008 Olympics without Mikel Obi and finished on the medal table in the men’s football event.
“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”, Siasia told Elegbete TV Sports.
“I said if he doesn’t come, he won’t go anywhere. But Mikel refused to come, saying he was playing for Chelsea.
“Nothing happened, we played very well, at the end of the day 0-0, we qualified.
“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 who qualified us and bring you in? It won’t happen. That’s why Mikel didn’t go.”
Meanwhile, Naija News reports that Samson Siasia has revealed that Mikel Obi didn’t pay for the flight tickets of the Nigeria under-23 team en route to the 2016 Olympics.
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