Contrary to the claim in the media by the Super Eagles coach that Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, is punishing the Super Eagles skipper, Obi Mikel, for playing for Nigeria in the Olympics, the midfielder has come to debunk the claim.
Gernot Rohr, when asked about the condition of Mikel at Chelsea, was reported to have said, “Mikel was punished by Chelsea for playing at the Olympics for Nigeria. The new coach tried convincing him to stay but he went to defend his nation. I cannot punish him for not playing in his club”.
Mikel in a post however said this is not so. He said: “I’d like to clarify that the recent media claims that I’ve been punished by Chelsea FC for participating at the Rio 2016 Olympics are completely inaccurate”.
Unfortunately, comments made by Gernot Rohr before yesterday’s 3-1 win over Algeria were both mistranslated and taken out of context by the Nigeria media, as English isn’t Mr Rohr’s or much of the Nigerian media’s first language.”
“To be absolutely clear, Mr Conte and Chelsea were always fully supportive of my captaincy of the Nigerian team at Rio.”
“The manager gave me his full blessing to participate at the Olympics, and even encouraged me to bring back the gold medal – something I spoke to the media about at the time.
Mikel said he respect the national team and that of the Chelsea FC. he spoke of his focus to win to win more silverware with Chelsea and help Nigeria qualify for the world cup.