EXPOSED: Untold Bribery Scandal In Nigerian Football Teams’ Selection

The allegations regarding bribery in player selection for the Nigerian national football team have gained significant attention. Many former and current players from various clubs around the globe have come forward, accusing coaches and agents of asking for bribes to secure their places on the team.

This issue appears to be perceived as a norm among certain stakeholders, affecting not only the senior team but also all other age categories within the national framework.

Despite the denials from several coaches implicated in these allegations, it has been suggested that bribery influences player selection, particularly favoring specific individuals to represent the nation in tournaments, with varying amounts demanded.

For instance, in 2007, a youth footballer alleged that Mr. Godwin Uwua, the then-coach of the Flying Eagles, required a bribe in exchange for selecting players to represent Nigeria. Odion Ighalo, who was playing for Julius Berger in Lagos at that time, reported that Uwua informed his European representative that unless a payment of N50,000 was made for both Ighalo and his teammate Akabusi, they would not be included in the squad for the Congo African U-20 Championship.

In a more recent incident, former Super Eagles coach Salisu Yusuf was recorded receiving cash from investigative journalists masquerading as football agents seeking the selection of two players for a prominent championship. Yusuf, who served as an assistant to Gernot Rohr during the World Cup in Russia, has refuted any allegations of misconduct.

Moreover, David Alaba, a player for Real Madrid, disclosed that he was solicited for a bribe by the coaches of the Golden Eaglets to secure his selection for the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Alaba’s mother firmly refused to comply with the demand for payment.

In 2024, when the 23-man roster for Nigeria’s Super Eagles for the World Cup in Brazil was unveiled, public sentiment reflected a mixture of support and concern, particularly regarding certain questionable inclusions and omissions. One notable player who was nearly selected was Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, a finalist in the 2005 World Youth Championship, who contributed Nigeria’s sole goal in the final against Argentina. In a subsequent Instagram Live conversation, Obasi attributed his exclusion from the World Cup squad to his refusal to pay a bribe, indirectly implicating the late coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi in the matter. However, Daniel Amokachi, Keshi’s assistant, subsequently commented that Obasi should have voiced his concerns while the coach was still living.

Recently, former Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia has dissociated himself from claims that John Obi Mikel or his agent offered him €50,000 in exchange for securing a position in Nigeria’s squad for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, following legal threats from agent John Shittu.

Siasia, Nigeria’s U23 coach during the 2008 Beijing Games, recently alleged in an interview that John Shittu offered him €50,000 to include Mikel in the Olympic squad—despite the midfielder missing out on the qualifiers.

Speaking on Brila FM’s Big Interview, Siasia expressed disappointment over how his words had been misrepresented by sections of the Nigerian media.

“I won’t talk to Nigerian journalists again. Why would anyone say I said Mikel or his agent offered me money?” Siasia said during the programme.

The 57-year-old insisted that he never accused Mikel or his representative, John Shittu, of offering a bribe and lamented that his reputation was being tarnished over a distorted interpretation of his remarks.

His reaction comes after Shittu, in a statement to the press, denied the bribery allegation and also revealed he had taken legal steps, demanding a retraction and ₦250 million in damages from Siasia for defamation.

The controversy erupted after a clip surfaced online in which Siasia discussed the 2008 Olympic squad selection process.

As earlier reported by Soccernet.ng, he had mentioned that Mikel did not participate in the qualifiers but wanted to be included in the final squad, which Siasia claimed to have rejected out of fairness to the players who had secured qualification.

“He didn’t play the qualifiers. So I should remove someone who helped us qualify to bring him in? It won’t happen,” he earlier said.

The former coach added,

“People who played to qualify should go.”

Mikel eventually missed out on the 2008 Games, with Nigeria going on to win a silver medal. He would later feature prominently at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, leading Nigeria to a bronze medal.

Siasia is yet to issue an official statement or apology to address the growing legal threat from Mikel’s camp, however.

Shittue’s reponse

John Shittu, the former agent of ex-Super Eagles midfielder John Mikel Obi, has hit back at allegations made against him by former Nigeria U23 coach, Samson Siasia.

Shittu, speaking with The Cable, revealed that Siasia had since called him to apologise over the comments.

“I am one of the most respected agents in the game,” Shittu said.

“I don’t engage myself with damaged or inconsequential people.”

The beginning of the story

The Head coach of the Olympics Eagles to the Rio 2016 Olympics, Samson Siasia has refuted claims that that Mikel Obi paid for the flight tickets of the team from United States to Rio.

Siasia was reacting to the news credited to Mikel Obi in the media space in Nigeria in the past few days, where he said that he paid for the flight tickets of the team from Atlanta to Rio in 2016 and till today, he has not been refunded the money.

“Mikel Obi did not pay any flight money for Olympic Eagles from United States to Brazil for the 2016 Olympics. Nothing like that,” Siasia told Omonfoma Ebare of AIT Sports.

“We only had issues with hotel bills. I think, he did pay for some of the hotel bills, but that of the flight from United States to Brazil, Mikel did not pay for that.

Delta Airline flew us because Nigerians in the United States were agitated over the issue. A friend of mine went to Delta Airline chairman and they resolved the matter.

He added that : “Yemi Idowu had earlier paid for the team’s flight tickets, but the aircraft was too small.

“If Mikel has the receipt to that effect, let him show Nigerians that he was the one who paid.

Mikel did not pay for any flight tickets of the team. I say this as the head coach of the team then. He should bring the receipt, if he paid.

“May be he is broke and looking for money. He should try other means to make money,” he concluded.

It is time for the Nigeria Football Federation authorities to step into the trending controversial issues messing with the image of the country at the football level, as the World Cup is fast approaching. The need for the football house and the country’s National Assembly to wade into the matters very crucial by summoning the three personalities to account for what has been trending and find permanent solutions to Nigeria’s football corrupt system.