Mikel Obi’s former agent breaks silence on Siasia’s €50,000 allegation

 John Shittu, the former agent of Super Eagles legend John Obi Mikel, has firmly denied claims that he offered ex-Nigeria U23 coach Samson Siasia €50,000 to include Mikel in the 2008 Olympic Games squad, according to Soccernet.

Siasia had recently alleged that Mikel’s representative approached him with a cash offer to secure a place for the midfielder, who had opted out of the Olympic qualification campaign while struggling for regular minutes at Chelsea. According to Siasia, he turned down the supposed bribe, arguing it would be unfair to drop players who helped Nigeria qualify for Beijing.

“Going to the Olympics, Mikel wanted to come and play. His agent said he would give me €50,000 to include him,” Siasia claimed in a recent interview, insisting he refused to remove loyal squad members for a star who had not contributed to the qualification.

However, Shittu has rubbished the allegations, describing them as baseless and damaging to his name. Speaking to TheCable, he revealed that Siasia had even called him personally to apologise for making the accusations public.

“I am one of the most respected agents in the game,” Shittu said. “I don’t engage myself with damaged or inconsequential people.”

He further stated that the issue no longer holds any weight for him and considered the matter closed.

“As far as I am concerned, it’s a forgotten issue,” he added.

Mikel Obi, who did not feature at the 2008 Games, later returned to captain the Nigerian U23 team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, leading them to a bronze medal

The former Chelsea star has yet to comment publicly on the revived bribery allegations.