John Mikel Obi Chose To Ignore Eagles Call-Up- Oliseh

Super Eagles coach, Sunday Oliseh has revealed that Chelsea midfielder, John Mikel Obi was left out of the 18-man list released earlier this week due to his inability to reach the Oslo player on phone.

The former Nigerian skipper said that he tried to reach the 28-year old on phone but all his efforts were fruitless as Obi's phone rang all through without answer. 

Oliseh, who had a briefing with the media on Thursday in Abuja explained that he had attempted to reach out to the midfielder ahead of the Community Shield game against Arsenal but he was rebuffed by the 28-year-old’s decision not to respond to his phone calls.

“I met with the players when I went to England on Thursday, the day Chelsea was coming back from a tour before they played Arsenal in the Community Shield,” said Oliseh.

“I put a call through to John Obi Mikel. I called him four times, the phone kept ringing. I sent him a text message, I got no response. I called [Victor] Moses, the phone rang three times.

“And I spoke with [Moses], I told him to concentrate on his game and after the game he came to my hotel room we spoke and I made him understand that my priority is building a new team and everybody is starting from zero and I needed to see players playing.

“From there I [made] a trip to Liverpool there is no secret anymore, you all know about it [meeting with Jordan Ibe] everybody knows. I spoke with other players and their parents and I never got a call back from Obi Mikel until I traveled back home. But just yesterday I saw a missed call on my phone so at the moment I don’t know what the situation is now.

“For me everybody is the same and every player we call answers. To us it’s not up to me but I want to clear one thing if anybody wants to play for the Super Eagles we will all be treated the same way.

“I even told the players playing at home that home based player for me doesn’t exist, if you are a better player in Nigeria we will play you. The thing is that I have not spoken to him and I made efforts but no response, so I don’t know what to do. You people should tell me what to do, I don’t know,” Oliseh asked.

Nigeria continue to prepare for their first game under Oliseh’s reign as they take on Tanzania in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on September 5 in Dar es Salam. Goal