Former Nigeria U23 coach, Samson Siasia, has made a startling claim against former Super Eagles captain and ex-Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, alleging that the player’s agent offered him a €50,000 bribe to secure Mikel’s place in the squad for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
In an interview with Elegbete TV Sports, Siasia explained that Mikel initially refused to join the team during the qualification phase, despite multiple pleas from him. According to Siasia, Mikel was uninterested in participating until after the team had successfully secured a spot at the Olympics.
“Mikel wasn’t a starter at Chelsea then, he was on the bench,” Siasia claimed. “I told him we only had one game against Ghana to play – please come and help us. But Mikel refused to come, saying he was playing in Chelsea.”
Nigeria went on to draw 0-0 against Ghana in their final qualifier, securing a place at the 2008 Olympic Games without Mikel. Siasia said it was only after qualification that Mikel expressed interest in joining the team for the tournament in Beijing.
“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.”
However, match records contradict Siasia’s claim that Mikel was benched at Chelsea during the qualification period. At the time of the final qualifier against Ghana, Mikel had started four consecutive Premier League matches and would go on to start five more immediately afterward, indicating he was a regular part of Chelsea’s squad under then-manager Avram Grant.
Siasia’s revelation has stirred fresh debate among football fans and observers, particularly as Mikel was eventually part of Nigeria’s silver-medal winning squad at the Rio 2016 Olympics, eight years later.
As of now, Mikel Obi has not responded to the bribery allegation.
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