Nigeria Under-23 team head coach, Samson Siasia, has named Chelsea midfielder, John Obi Mikel, as the captain of the country's football team for the Olympic Games.
Mikel, who has also been chosen as the Team Leader of the Nigerian contingent to the Rio Olympic Games, will wear the skipper's arm band instead of Azubuike Okechukwu who is the substantive captain.
The players unanimously accepted Mikel as the team captain and pledged to support the former FC Lyn-Oslo player, who is also captain of the Super Eagles.
The announcement was made after a meeting between the players and officials on Sunday as the team prepare to depart the Atlanta camp base for Brazil, venue of the games.
"It's just natural for me to pick Mikel as our captain. Aside the fact that he is the captain of the Super Eagles, he is also Team Nigeria captain, so after meeting with both of them and explaining my position,” Siasia explained.
“I am pleased to say Azubuike who has been our captain understood and was happy to hand over the captain’s band to Mikel.
"It is a thing of joy for my team to produce the first footballer to captain Team Nigeria to the Olympics. This, to me, is more than gratifying."
Nigeria are grouped alongside Japan, Colombia and Sweden in the group stage of the men's football event of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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