Nigeria Olympic Football Team receive ‘$390,000 gift’
Your opinion is needed. Japanese plastic surgeon Katsuya Takasu had promised to reward the Nigerian Olympic Football team after hearing about their financial difficulties before and during the tournament.
Source: BBC Twitter Feed
Takasu fulfilled his promise by presenting cheques of $200,000 and $190,000. The cheques were presented to coach Samson Siasia and captain John Mikel Obi respectively on behalf of the team.
Dr. Katsuya Takasu met with them two hours after Nigeria defeated Honduras 3-2 in the bronze medal play-off. “The $200,000 covers the bonuses and allowances as promised and the $190,000 is for the bronze medal,” Takasu told BBC Sport. He further added, “I had travelled from Tokyo prepared to reward them anyway, and to watch them win the bronze inside the stadium was very fulfilling.”
Before arriving in Rio, Nigeria’s ‘Dream Team VI’ were held up in Atlanta, USA, because of a problem with the payment for their flight, and they only landed in Brazil just hours before their opening 5-4 win over Japan.
Nigeria also had a troubled build-up to their quarter-final against Denmark after the players boycotted a training session in a dispute over pay.
“This team showed resilience and fought the hardest to achieve success, despite all their problems – some people would have given up but they didn’t,” said Takasu.
“In everything we must always let people understand that they are appreciated and not just in football but generally in life.”
- So is this a shame or a blessing?
- Has Nigeria’s leaders failed on such a massive international stage?
Please post your opinion in comments section below
