“It Was Sad And Painful”- Ex-Super Eagles Midfielder Duke Udi Reveals How Bonfere Joe Dubiously Excluded Him From Nigeria’s Atlanta 1996 Squad
There have always been talks of racketeering in Nigeria’s national teams across various sports, but very few situations have come to light. However, a former Super Eagles player Duke Udi has brought some of the activities of former Nigeria coach Joe Bonfere to light. The 47-year-old was an important member of the Nigeria Under-23 team in the run-up to the 1996 Olympics, featuring in most of the games….CONTINUE READING
However, he was omitted from the final squad for the Olympics despite playing in their last friendly game against Togo and being fully fit.
In a recent interview on Elegbete TV, Udi who has now gone into coaching revealed that he was excluded from the squad because he turned down Bonfere’s request for him to move to Dutch club Heerenveen in 1996 before the Olympics.
Nonetheless, despite the shenanigans behind the scenes, Nigeria still went on to win gold in Atalanta, beating top teams like Brazil, Argentina and Japan.
Meanwhile, Bonfere had two stints in Nigeria. He coached the Olympics team and worked as head coach of the Super Eagles.
