Mikel Obi denies donating $30,000 to Nigeria’s Olympic squad

John Mikel Obi has rubbished reports that claimed he donated $30,000 to Nigeria’s U-23 team, currently camping in Atlanta, USA.

The Chelsea midfielder, is one of the two overage players in Samson Siasia’s squad and reportedly gave the sum to alleviate the sufferings of his team-mates.

“I was first told of this unfortunate story by a friend who called me from Nigeria. I thought he was joking until he sent me the link,” Mikel told the NFF.

“I don’t know the source of this story which to me is all out to divide us as a team. I would have thought that stories that should be coming out in the media are stories that will unite the team instead of dividing us. Our target in Rio is to excel, but if they continue like this, then I wonder how we can be united.

“Tell me the players who are in this team that are so hungry that will be looking up to me for survival? Is it (William) Ekong, (Oghenekaro) Etebo, (Shehu) Abdulahi, (Daniel) Akpeyi, (Kingsley) Madu, (Okechukwu) Azubuike or (Stanley) Amuzie, who are my team–mates in the Super Eagles, that I will be donating to, or other players who are plying their trade abroad and are doing well for themselves?

“To me, this is just mere distraction that won’t help this team going into a major tournament like the Olympics.”