Nigeria soccer team’s flight delayed before Olympic debut

Nigeria ‘s Olympic football team have been grounded in Atlanta hours before their first game of Rio 2016 due to an unsettled flight bill.

“The players were uncomfortable with the size of the plane”, team media officer Timi Ebikagboro told the BBC.

Delta has not only footed the check for a private charter flight for the team from Atlanta to Manaus, but the airline also has put the team up in a hotel for the night in Atlanta.

A spokesperson with the Nigerian Olympic Soccer team says Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines will provide a plane for the group after being stranded in the city for days.

“The team’s quest to prove a point actually saved our faces but we have been ridiculed already by the flight delay which does not portray us as a serious country, ” he said.

However, D’Tigers loss to the US team was predictable when comparing the quality of players paraded by both countries and going by their first ever meet in London 2012 Olympics. But they may not get there in time- because they’re stranded in Atlanta.

Nigeria has a history of success in the Olympics, winning the gold medal in 1996.

Samson Siasia’s squad are stuck in Atlanta with the charter airline hired to fly them on the last leg of their journey refusing to leave until they have been paid.

They will hope to get some needed rest before facing Sweden in their next game in Manaus on Sunday. When a last minute back up plan failed Wednesday because the plane was too small, they were left without a good option.

They then encountered a crush of travelers and lack of flights at the busy Atlanta airport, where several Brazil-bound trips are originating.

Some basketball enthusiasts on Wednesday called on the federation to take preparations of national teams for global assignments serious.