Chelsea FC midfielder and Super Eagles captain
Mikel Obi has been named Captain of Team Nigeria
to the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio in Brazil, which
begins on August 5.
Mikel Obi has been named Captain of Team Nigeria
to the 2016 Olympic Games at Rio in Brazil, which
begins on August 5.
A statement on Tuesday by Nneka Ikem-Anibeze,
Special Assistant on Media to Youths and Sports
Minister Solomon Dalung, also named Funke
Oshonaike as the Assistant Team Captain.
Mikel is one of the three over-aged players invited
to the national under-23 football team for the
Games.
He is making his first appearance at an Olympic
Games, after missing out on the 2008 edition in
Beijing, China where he was widely expected to
make an appearance.
Table tennis star Oshonaike is making her sixth
appearance at the Olympics after she made her
debut at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
“Mikel and Oshonaike were chosen because of their
consistency, patriotism and dedication to national
assignments.
“Mikel is a young, patriotic footballer of
international status and we believe he will be a role
model to the upcoming athletes, while Oshonaike is
experienced and is one of the oldest athletes in the
team.
“We believe that their combined efforts will bring
goodwill to Team Nigeria and project the county’s
image positively to the world,’’ Ikem-Anibeze said in
the statement.
The Dream Team VI, Team Nigeria’s male football
side, is expected to depart for Rio from Atlanta in
the U.S., where they have been training, on Friday.
Other athletes making up the team are however
expected to leave Nigeria on the same day from
Abuja.
