John Mikel Obi shared a story about helping his teammates get to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
John Mikel Obi played for the U-23 Nigerian team. He was one of the three older players chosen by their coach, Samson Siasia.
He played with the team and also became the captain. Under his leadership, they won the bronze medal in the men’s football event.
But things were not smooth. John said there was poor planning by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC).
“When I played for Nigeria at the Olympics in Brazil, we needed to fly there. We waited the whole day at the airport for a plane,” John said on his podcast.
“But there was no plane to take us because people were arguing over who would pay for the flight.”
“The football association didn’t want to pay, and although the government gave the money, the person in charge of it refused to release it.”
“So, we waited at the airport from morning until night but nothing happened. In the end, I had to pay for our flight to Brazil. Simple things like this matter a lot,” John added.