Two Of Mikel Obi’s Worst Days In Professional Football

Two Of Mikel Obi’s Worst Days In Professional Football

Professional football players usually would have their great and bad days, and so did Chelsea legend, John Obi Mikel who just retired from professional football.

It happened in the field of play on December 6, 2012 in one of Chelsea’ crucial games.

Obi also Super Eagles midfielder,was slamed with a N16 million (N£60,000) fine by the Football Association of England, in addition to a three-match ban.

His offence, it was said, was threatening referee Mark Clattenburg.

The midfielder had admitted an FA charge following an incident in the match official’s changing room at the end of Chelsea’s game against Manchester United, on October 28, at Stamford Bridge.

The FA’s Independent Regulatory Commission, in a personal hearing later, accepted that the player had genuinely believed the referee had racially abused him thus were lenient in dispensing justice.

“But for that factor the suspension would have been significantly longer,” the FA said in a statement.

The FA has investigated the allegation against Clattenburg and found that there was no case for the referee to answer.

That time, Mikel had just signed a new 5-year deal with Samford bridge that would see his contract reach  2017.

Another was June 2018, when news broke that his father, Pa Michael Obi had been kidnapped and was being held for a N10 million ($28,000 U.S.) ransom.

Ironically, Mikel would not tell anyone immediately, as the kidnappers had threatened to shoot the man if he dared.

The incident was four hours before kickoff in the decisive World Cup clash in St. Petersburg, and the kidnappers had demanded N10 million ($28,000 U.S.)

Two Of Mikel Obi’s Worst Days In Professional Football

The elder Obi was on his way to a funeral in southeastern Nigeria from Jos when he was abducted along the Makurdi-Enugu expressway on June 26.

The police was however to well later encounter and engage the kidnapers in a dun duel at Egede, near Udi in Enugu State, eventually rescuing the man and his driver.

“I was confused. I did not know what to do, but in the end I knew that I could not let 180 million Nigerians down.

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“And I did not want to discuss it with the coach because I did not want my issue to become a distraction to the coach or the rest of the team on the day of such an important game. So as much as I wanted to discuss it with the coach, I could not do it”, Mikel had told journalists then.

Two Of Mikel Obi’s Worst Days In Professional Football