Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has revealed that he contacted the office of late Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari to ensure players received their bonuses after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after months of delays by the Nigeria Football Federation.
Speaking on an episode of The Obi One Podcast released on Tuesday, Mikel said Nigeria’s players were owed money earned from qualifying for the tournament and that repeated assurances from officials failed to materialise once the team arrived in camp.
“Talking about fighting for players’ bonuses, I went above the president of the NFF to get those bonuses, which is what I did a couple of times during the World Cup,” Mikel said.
He explained that FIFA releases what is known as parachute money ahead of major tournaments, which is meant to be shared among players, while federations typically borrow funds to settle bonuses early before repaying lenders once FIFA payments arrive.
Leading up to the World Cup, we were owed money,” he said.
“We had been asking for this money for months before the tournament. They kept telling me, ‘Oh, Mikel, don’t worry, the money will be sorted when you come to camp.’ I said, ‘Okay, no problem, but make sure the money is there because the players are asking me about their bonuses.’”
According to Mikel, those assurances were repeated even after the team arrived in camp. “We got to camp, and I spoke to the team secretary and the president. I asked, ‘Where is the money?’ Again, they said, ‘Don’t worry, Mikel, we’ll sort it out.’”
