Former Super Eagles coach Jo Bonfrere has claimed that he has yet to receive his Olympic gold medal or reward for helping Nigeria win the men’s football event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Bonfrere made the claim during an interview with CreativeLordTV in Ebonyi State, where he visited for the opening of Chief Agueze’s country home on Saturday, October 10, 2026.
Asked whether the promises made to him after Nigeria won gold had been fulfilled, the 80-year-old Dutch coach, through an interpreter, said he had never received the medal.
“I have never seen the gold. That’s the problem, so I don’t know how it looks. I don’t know how the gold medal looks because I have never received it,” he said.
The interpreter further explained that Bonfrere had gone three decades without receiving his reward, despite claims that the players and other officials had been rewarded.
“Every player has received, even the reward, every player and official. So after 30 years, I have never received my reward,” he said while conveying the coach’s account.
The interpreter also recounted how Bonfrere allegedly resisted pressure from a minister to select certain players, insisting on choosing the squad he believed could win the tournament.
According to him, the minister repeatedly urged him to field specific players, but Bonfrere maintained that he had to make his own choices to secure victory.
Nigeria defeated Argentina 3–2 in the final of the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, becoming the first African nation to win Olympic gold in men’s football.
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