Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has offered fresh insight into the challenges the Nigerian team faced ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, revealing how he personally stepped in to ensure the squad made it to the tournament.
Mikel was named captain of Nigeria’s Olympic team after being included in the 35-man provisional squad. He went on to play a key role during the competition, scoring his first Olympic goal in a 2–0 quarter-final win over Denmark.
Although Nigeria fell short of the gold medal after a 2-0 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals, the team bounced back to claim the bronze with a 3-2 victory over Honduras. That win made Nigeria the first country to win all three Olympic football medals — gold in 1996, silver in 2008, and bronze in 2016.
Speaking on That Peter Crouch Podcast, Mikel recounted the troubling events that unfolded just before the tournament, explaining how financial delays threatened to derail the team’s travel plans.
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“A budget was signed by the government and someone sitting on top of that money, didn’t release that money and we were sitting at the hotel, about to fly to Rio.”
According to Mikel, the uncertainty over funding left players anxious, unsure how they would reach Brazil. As team captain, he took the initiative to find a solution.
“Everybody was thinking how are we gonna get there? There was no money to pay for flights, there was nothing to do, the players were worried and for most of them, it was their first time going to a major tournament so I thought why not?”
“I spoke to the coach, said how can we find a plane, we looked for a plane and I had to pay for it. We got there, I thought now I’m gonna get reimbursed my money, up till today I still haven’t received it.”
Despite never being reimbursed, Mikel said the satisfaction of helping his young teammates achieve Olympic success made the sacrifice worthwhile.
“The joy that I take out of that is that we got there and those young players were able to get an Olympic medal. I know we finished third but it’s still a massive achievement.”
“For me to be able to see that for those young players, go back home to their families, knowing that they got a medal from the Olympics was more than the money. So for me, I left it for them.”
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