Organiser of the pre-Olympics training camp in Atlanta, United States, for Nigeria’s U-23 football team, Bunmi Jinadu, has offered fresh insight into how the Dream Team VI eventually flew to Brazil for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
His revelations come in the wake of a resurfaced video clip of team captain John Mikel Obi, in which he claimed responsibility for funding the team’s flight to Brazil after they were left stranded.
The video, which recently went viral, stirred public emotion, with Mikel asserting that he was never reimbursed for the gesture.
“There was no money to pay for a flight, the players were worried… I spoke to the coach, we looked for a plane and I had to pay for it,” Mikel said in the viral clip.
However, in a video shared online, Jinadu countered the former Super Eagles captain’s account, stating that the breakthrough came through his personal efforts and international connections.
“Let’s set the record straight,” Jinadu began. “When the team was stuck in Atlanta, nobody called Saraki, Dalung, or even Coach Samson Siasia. They called me. How did they get my number? Through stakeholders. You know, in America, they don’t joke with accurate information.”
According to Jinadu, a major lifeline came when officials from the United States reached out with an unexpected solution.
“They said, ‘Mr. Jinadu, we have good news for you,’” he recalled. “I asked what it was, and they told me they had found a plane that could take the team to Rio. I was relieved because, at that point, everyone, including the NFF leadership, had exhausted all options.”
The initial shock, however, came with the quoted cost of the chartered plane: $250 million.
“I thought, ‘Here we go again,’” he said with a laugh. “But then they said, ‘We’re giving it to you for free. Plus, we’ll take care of hotel accommodation for some players in transit.’ That was the game-changer.”
Jinadu explained that he immediately assumed responsibility for coordinating the flight arrangement with the Nigerian authorities. “They asked who to speak with in Nigerian leadership, and I said, ‘Talk to me. I’ve taken this on myself. I put the money up for the camp, I’ve done everything so far.’”
Thanks to the last-minute intervention, the team boarded the flight the following morning and arrived in Manaus just in time for their opening match at the Olympics.
“There were cameras and reporters all over the airport,” Jinadu recounted. “But what mattered most was that the boys made it there, and they delivered, bringing home the bronze medal.”
In a newly surfaced video, former coach of Nigeria’s U23 football team, Samson Siasia, has refuted claims made by ex-Super Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel who alleged that he funded the team’s flight to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Siasia clarified that although Mikel might have covered certain hotel bills during the tournament, the team’s flight arrangements were handled through separate means, not by the former captain.
Mikel Obi had been selected as one of the three overage players allowed in the U-23 squad, led by Coach Samson Siasia.
Despite the chaos surrounding their travel, Nigeria managed to clinch bronze at the Rio Games, adding another Olympic medal to the country’s football history.
While both accounts reflect the difficult circumstances that almost derailed Nigeria’s Olympic dreams in 2016, Jinadu’s version sheds light on the behind-the-scenes negotiations that ultimately made the trip to Brazil possible.