Japanese doctor honours pledge to Olympic football team as NFF deny demanding cash

JAPANESE doctor Katsuya Takasu has redeemed his pledge to hand the Nigerian men's football team a large sum of cash if they won a medal at the ongoing Rio Olympics by presenting the squad with a cheque for $390,000 after it won a bronze medal yesterday.

 

Having witnessed the hardship the Nigerian team endured in the run-up to the tournament, Dr Takasu, a plastic surgeon cum football enthusiast pledged to pay them if they won a medal. Yesterday, he honoured his promise by handing the cheque to skipper Mikel Obi and coach Samson Siasia in Rio de Janeiro.

 

Yesterday morning, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper and football analyst, Peterside Idah, had raised the alarm that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials had hijacked the donation made by the Japanese doctor. However, t he NFF denied the allegation, pointing out that the suggestions was mischievous.

 

NFF president Amaju Pinnick said: “His message was a lie, an atrocious false alarm before an important match. I had exchanged correspondence with the minister on the issue of the donation and we agreed that there was need for caution.

 

"The minister said to me that he read of the donation in the papers and had expressed serious concern. I also received a mail from the NFF integrity officer who expressed very serious concern with this kind of donation."

 

He added that the NFF may be having financial challenges but nobody in the federation is interested in that money. According to Mr Pinnick, no NFF official will be involved even in the collection as the money will be received directly by the team.