‘Let Them Eat Their National Team’ – Siasia Resigns As U-23 Head Coach

Siasia’s frustration is not unconnected to the ill treatment he and his boys received from Nigeria’s sports ministry during and after the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“You can’t keep going to a place where they don’t appreciate you. It does not worth it. Sometimes it is not about the money but the approach, the coach told Vanguard.

“They seem not to appreciate the sacrifices. I know how much I have sacrificed since the team began camping two years ago. How can you keep going to people who don’t appreciate you?

“It does not make sense, so I am done for now. I have to go somewhere else where they will appreciate what I have done and what I can do and pay me the respect that I deserve.”

“Even before I returned from the Olympics, the only car they gave me, they took it away from my wife. That is just awesome.

“That is not how to treat someone who was out there seeking glory for the nation. Let them eat their national team.”

Speaking on the alleged money approved for the Dream Team VI to fly to Brazil for the games, Siasia said: “we are still waiting to see where the money that was meant for us to fly to Brazil has gone to. Nobody has said anything.

“The federal government sent the money to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and the NOC said they sent the money to the airline in Florida which up till now they have not received anything, even the airline is planning to sue them for breach of contract because they were supposed to pay some money to them even if they were to cancel the arrangement.

READ ALSO: Olympics: Senate To Probe Dalung, NOC Over Team Nigeria’s Performance  

“That is even another issue. We don’t even know how they are going to settle that.”

All of these hurdles did not stop the Nigeria U-23 team from bringing home bronze medal in the men’s football event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.