Former Super Eagles defender, Taye Ismaila Taiwo, has opened another can of worms in the Nigerian national team set-up, alleging that many of the country’s players actually bribed coaches to gain invitations to the national team.
In an expose that is bound to raise further questions about the recent influx of new faces in the Super Eagles team, the former Olympique Marseille (OM) of France left back hit out hard on some Nigerian players for going the extra mile to curry favour from national team coaches in order to get invitations to the squad.
‘TT’, who has also played for AC Milan of Italy, Queens Park Rangers (QPR) of England and Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine, before a setback hit him in Turkey, further said many players ‘bribed’ coaches to be selected for the national team.
Now 30, Taiwo, who recently terminated his contract with Bursaspor of Turkey over unpaid wages and is in France looking for a new club, said he would not offer any gratification to feature for the Super Eagles.
“Unlike others, I didn’t offer gifts to the Nigerian coach to be selected. Unfortunately, it’s still happening. I’m not going to be like some who owe their selection to gifts offered to the coach.
“The French league is my favorite; it’s my adopted country and my city, Marseille. I would love to return, I spent my best moments (there); my family and my friends are there.
“I remain a strong supporter of OM. If Jean-Claude Dassier had been able to manage a football club, I would still be in Marseille,” he told Football Africa 365.
