Mikel Finally Opens Up, I Spent £30,000 On Players At Rio

Super Eagles Captain and Chelsea Midfielder, John Mikel bi has revealed he paid money to save dream team at the Rio Olympics in a new interview with Goal.com. This comes after Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung debunked rumours of any payment by the player.

"I think if we talk about the money that I put into the team I think it was more than [£30,000]," Mikel told Goal. "But we just had to do it.

"I said to myself, 'I won’t let this happen. If I can help, I’ll try to help'. Sometimes there was no food, sometimes there was no pitch to train on, there was no bus to go to the training ground. So all of this was what me and the coach had to figure out, and get money together.

"I came to the camp. I sat down with the boys in Atlanta and I could see the frustration, the pain and the anger. Their aim was to play in the Olympics, their goal was to play in the Olympics. And for me being there and seeing what they are going through, they are young boys, they want to start their career and someone in the ministry is trying to crush that dream," he said.