In current months, the previous Tremendous Eagles captain has reiterated in a number of interviews, together with a podcast with Peter Crouch, that he personally paid for the flight from Atlanta to Rio. Mikel insisted the staff confronted a flight disaster and that no funds had been out there, prompting him to take cost.
Nevertheless, Jinadu, who oversaw the staff’s coaching camp in Atlanta forward of the Video games, supplied a conflicting account. Talking on Elegbete TV, he acknowledged there have been certainly monetary challenges however asserted that Delta Airways offered the flight without spending a dime after a heartfelt public attraction.
In line with Jinadu, the Nigerian staff’s journey points had been much less about cash and extra about securing logistics amidst a congested Olympic journey schedule. He defined that he reached out to Delta Airways throughout a dwell TV interview, after which the airline responded with a constitution airplane provide price $250k—freed from cost. Delta additionally offered resort reservations for the squad.
Jinadu added that though the NFF had not organized the flight on the time, he stepped in to stop nationwide embarrassment. His account means that no private funds from Mikel had been used for the staff’s journey to Rio.
The 2 figures now provide utterly contrasting narratives in regards to the dramatic occasions of that summer time, elevating recent debate over who really saved Nigeria’s Olympic hopes in 2016. With the story gaining renewed consideration, readability could but emerge about what actually occurred behind the scenes.
