Earlier this week, team coach Samson Siasia lamented about the fact that the players had not been paid their bonuses and the coaching crew had not been paid their salaries for five months. Over the last few days, the players have skipped training as morale plummets in the face of all these difficulties and it looks like things may get worse.
For now, the 18 players and officials remain stranded in Atlanta and have no idea when they will be leaving for the Olympic Games in Rio and are praying for manna to fall from heaven. To make matters worse, Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi has left the training camp and it is envisaged at this point that he will not return to join the team.
With only six days left before their opener at the 2016 Olympic Games against Japan, it is safe to say the U-23 squad, known as Dream Team V1 face a bleak future. They were expected to depart their training camp on Friday July 29, but are still in America and unsure when they will hop on a plane for Rio.
One official said: “The players are still in America and no one knows when they will leave Atlanta. For the past two days they have stopped training but may train.”
On Wednesday evening, the Nigerian team thrashed an African XI 12-0 in a training game and that was the last time coach Siasia evaluated the players in camp. The 2016 Olympic football tournament in Brazil bears special significance for the Nigeria Olympic football team as it marks 20 years since the original Dream Team won gold in Atlanta in 1996.
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