Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel
will, according to team’s sources, donate part of his share of the $390,000
awarded to the bronze winning Nigeria U-23 team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Katsuya Takasu, a Japanese surgeon made good
his promise to reward the team for their bravery in Rio after they beat
Honduras 3-2 for the bronze medal.
The Nigeria Football Federation and the Sports
Ministry made their observations known by insisting that the money must be from
a credible sources, but according to feelers from the camp of the Olympics
Eagles, the NFF were only seeking for means of getting their hands on the
money.
However, Takasu issued two Citibank cheques
$200,000 in the name of coach Samson Siasia and $190,000 in the name of Mikel.
One of the team’s officials disclosed to Africafootball.com that the team vowed
not to hand over the money to the NFF. “Mikel has insisted all of us will get
our share of the money. That we should not mind what the people in the NFF are
saying.
“He will make available this cash when he
comes for next month’s AFCON qualifier against Tanzania in Uyo.”
A team meeting has already resolved that both
players and officials will receive equal amount of the cash with Mikel himself
agreeing to give part of his own share for the chief coach (Siasia) to get more
than the rest of the squad. It was further gathered that the sharing formula
agreed was a flat rate for the 22 players (18 accredited players and four
alternate players) and 10 officials.