Did Mikel lie about the flight tickets to Rio?

[metalalloy]

Why was there a "Delta bill" to balance if the flight was free?

Mikel did not pay for the flight. He paid accommodation and feeding for some of the days they overstayed in Atlanta while waiting for the flights to be sorted out. And Yemi’s money was not picketed. They used it to balance some of Delta’s bill but it was not enough to cover all. And they refused to refund him his money.

You probably didn’t know that he initially paid for a chartered plane that Siasia and the team refused to board. Then the money was refunded and then used to settle some of Delta’s bill. Mikel never paid for any flight.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=318239

[metalalloy]

Quoting Bunmi Jinadu...

Next thing, I got a call from Delta Airline’s Leadership team stating they were looking for a plane but no promises yet. They then called back and said they found a plane that would leave at 8.00am and be in Manaus at 2.00 pm (five hours before their game) and that the plane would come in from Cincinnati, Ohio and there was a crew on standby.

I said, “Great, how much” they said, “Mr. Jinadu,normally this plane cost $250,000 but our objective is to get the team there in time for their game and we can deal with this later. I then made the decision and called coach Siasia and this was how the team got to Brazil.

So the Nigeria contingent didn’t pay for the trip to Rio from Atlanta?

Yes, Delta Airline conveyed the team free of charge to Rio without a single dime being paid by the Ministry of Sports or the NFF. It was Delta Airline’s valuable contribution to the team and the arrangement was facilitated by my relationship with the airline. No payment whatsoever was made either by the NFF or the Ministry of Sports as none was expected by the airline as far as I am concerned and these are verifiable.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/rio ... ic-eagles/

[Lolly]

Why was there a "Delta bill" to balance if the flight was free?

Mikel did not pay for the flight. He paid accommodation and feeding for some of the days they overstayed in Atlanta while waiting for the flights to be sorted out. And Yemi’s money was not picketed. They used it to balance some of Delta’s bill but it was not enough to cover all. And they refused to refund him his money.

You probably didn’t know that he initially paid for a chartered plane that Siasia and the team refused to board. Then the money was refunded and then used to settle some of Delta’s bill. Mikel never paid for any flight.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=318239

You probably missed my last post.

My job is done.

People are free to believe Siasia, Edafe and Jinadu on one side, or believe Mikel. This is from Mikel’s interview a few weeks after the event when his memory was fresh.

https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/mikel-a ... 4916ee4d46#

Mikel admits he paid his own money to save Nigeria's Olympics

Nizaar Kinsella
10 Sep 2016 20:23+01:00

The Chelsea midfielder has recently returned to London from a successful Rio 2016 campaign and was brutally honest about the extent of the problems...

John Obi Mikel has slammed the Nigeria Football Federation after he was forced to put up his own money to help his country achieve their remarkable bronze medal at Rio 2016.

The Nigeria captain organised travel, paid for meals and booked training pitches while trying to physically and tactically prepare for games.

The bronze medal, Mikel explained, was his country's only moment of glory during the Olympics amid the troubles he had in Brazil.

"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."

Mikel and his Nigeria team-mates' problems began in the United States as they trained in Atlanta, where Nigeria won a shock gold medal in 1996 after a thrilling 3-2 win over Argentina.

He had to work closely on off-the-pitch arrangements with the Nigeria coach Samson Siasia and told of how, after problems with funding for the flights to the tournament, his team arrived only hours before their first game, which they remarkably still won against Sweden.

"There was just no flight provided by the Nigerian ministry," he added. "We planned to leave three or four days before the tournament, but we ended up leaving the day of our first game. It was a difficult one. I don’t think I have ever seen something like that before, it was crazy.

"[After our last minute flight] we got to the hotel, dropped our bags, grabbed some sandwiches, something to eat. A little bit of food. Then headed straight back to the stadium because we hadn’t even done our accreditations then, so we had to go there and wait in the line, do our accreditation.

"It was absolutely hectic. I don’t know how we managed to go onto the pitch and win that game, it was absolutely mind blowing."

The Chelsea midfielder appeared relaxed and happy after returning home to join up with Antonio Conte's squad this week as they prepare to face Swansea City on Sunday.

He was bursting with pride as he reflected on a successful tournament which culminated with a 3-2 bronze-medal match win over Honduras.

"Sometimes I wear my medal around the house, it gets my missus jealous," he joked as he showed off his medal. "The kids love playing with the medal. I am sure one day they will know what this really means.

"We had lots of problems outside the pitch, but I always told the boys that you shouldn’t let that affect what we came here to do. We still want to achieve what we came here to do. We still have to represent our country and play for ourselves and our family and the people of Nigeria.

"So if the ministry don’t want to take responsibility, we have to make sure we play for ourselves and our country. The boys understand that and we made sure they went along with my message that I kept putting across to them every single day and we managed to achieve what we did achieve."

[metalalloy]

You probably missed my last post.

I didn't. I am asking whether the Delta flight was free or not. Whether Mikel paid, or NFF paid is a separate issue.

See my post above your from a quote from Bunmi where Delta indicates that payment would be handled later.

[Lolly]

Quoting Bunmi Jinadu...

So the Nigeria contingent didn’t pay for the trip to Rio from Atlanta?

Yes, Delta Airline conveyed the team free of charge to Rio without a single dime being paid by the Ministry of Sports or the NFF. It was Delta Airline’s valuable contribution to the team and the arrangement was facilitated by my relationship with the airline. No payment whatsoever was made either by the NFF or the Ministry of Sports as none was expected by the airline as far as I am concerned and these are verifiable.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/rio ... ic-eagles/

The answer is in black and white.

Meanwhile, Delta also included one night’s hotel stay in the package including the FREE flight. But I guess there were additional bills at the hotel not covered by Delta. The usual extras.

[Lolly]

Mikel should just apologise and move on.

Siasia still has some questions to answer on the money he collected from Yemi Idowu. What was it used for? Who is responsible for his refund?