Former Super Eagles captain and Nigerian football legend John Obi Mikel has offered a rare and candid insight into the behind‑the‑scenes struggle to secure the payment of long‑overdue bonuses owed to the national team ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, exposing administrative failures and describing how he personally intervened at the highest level to ensure his teammates were paid.
Mikel, speaking on his own The Obi One Podcast, recounted that the squad had been owed their qualification bonuses for months before the tournament, with repeated promises from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the money would be sorted out once the team arrived at camp — assurances that never materialised.
“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, stressing that he felt compelled as captain to protect the interests of his teammates amid growing frustration and uncertainty.
According to Mikel, even after Nigeria assembled in camp in Russia, the payment issue remained unresolved. “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,’” he recalled.
As days passed without progress, anxiety among the players mounted. “A week went by. The players kept coming to me saying, ‘Mikel, we need this money. Once the World Cup is over, we don’t know if we’ll ever get it,’” he said, highlighting the harsh reality of unpaid professional earnings even at football’s biggest stage.
With no resolution from the NFF and pressure building within the squad, Mikel took the extraordinary step of contacting the office of then‑President Muhammadu Buhari through his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, to intervene directly. “I called him and said, ‘Mr chief of staff, we have a serious issue in the national team. We need this money to settle the players. This is what was promised,’” he said.
He described the response as swift: “24 hours later, a private plane arrived. The money was delivered to the hotel, hand to hand. Millions of dollars,” Mikel revealed. “I took the money and handed it to the team secretary and told him to hold it. I said, ‘Make sure this money does not go to the president or anyone else. This money belongs to the players.’”
Mikel emphasised that these funds were not extra incentives but entitlements — money the players had earned through qualifying for the World Cup. He said the bonuses were calculated and distributed the following day to the squad members who participated in the qualifying campaign.
However, his decisive actions reportedly did not go down well with everyone. Mikel recounted being summoned by senior NFF officials, including the then NFF president. “They said, ‘Mikel, why did you do this? You’ve made us look like idiots,’” he said. When pressed, Mikel responded bluntly: “When you fail, I have to take responsibility because my players need the f**king money. This money is owed. It is not a favour,” underscoring his belief that leadership sometimes requires hard choices for the sake of those one leads.
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