Mikel Obi has disclosed that he footed the bills of the Nigerian Olympic football team's flight to Brazil for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The former Super Eagles captain has been in the news for some of his takes on the Nigeria national team.
Recently, he spoke about how Lionel Messi stole the Golden Ball award from him at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
He has now revealed vital information about the Nigerian Olympic football team's trip to Brazil, exposing the NOC and NFF’s incompetence.
![Nigerian supporting Nigerian - Super Eagles icon Mikel Obi hailed for 'marketing' Victor Osimhen to Chelsea](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/14082024/4c01b2f6-3e7b-40ff-b296-35bfd51003a6.jpg?operations=fit(180:))
10:05 - 14.08.2024
Nigerian supporting Nigerian - Super Eagles icon Mikel Obi hailed for 'marketing' Victor Osimhen to Chelsea
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23:59 - 13.08.2024
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Mikel Obi experience at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Mikel disclosed how the Nigeria Football Federation and the Nigeria Olympics Committee nearly prevented the under-23 team from competing in the Rio Olympics of 2016 due to inadequate planning.
Mikel said on his podcast, “When I represented my country at the Olympics in Brazil, we had to fly there, and we waited for morning till night, waiting for a plane to take us to Brazil.
![Mikel Obi celebrates at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil ||Vanguard News](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/16082024/f42264bd-5c2f-4031-9421-e5764934c4bf.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
“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 money till night but there was no flight. I had to pay for that flight to take us to Brazil. And these are little things.”
![Mikel Obi and the Nigerian Olympic football team || Daily Post](https://sportal365images.com/process/smp-images-production/ringier.africa/16082024/b7cc3482-5628-4ff6-85e3-c9f2953d89eb.jpg?operations=fit(480:))
Mikel gave a vivid description of how the trip to Brazil almost got out of hand and how he came to the rescue.
The 2013 AFCON winner revealed that he has to sort out the flight bill of the team to avoid any embarrassment.