Former Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel has announced his official retirement from active football after over two decades of professional career.

John Mikel, 35 who has enjoyed a blistering career from younger age announced the retirement today via his official Instagram account.

Discovered from Pepsi Football Academy, Mikel played for long list football clubs including Plateau United, Lyn FC of Norway, Chelsea, Middlesbrough among others.

He said the announcement was a start of new journey in his life as he thanked all those who made the journey a success for him.

According to Mikel’s post on IG: There is a saying that “all good things must come to an end”, and for my professional football career, that day is today.

“I look back at the past 20 years of my career, and I must say that I am very satisfied with all that I was able to achieve and more importantly the human it has helped shape.

“All of this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my family, managers, clubs, coaches, teammates and most importantly my ever-loyal fans. You supported me through my highs and lows, even on days that I did not live up to your expectations. I say a big thank you.

“I will also like to encourage everyone who I may have inspired one way or the other in the course of my career to never give up on their dreams, for every time you think about quitting, remind yourself why you started.

This is not goodbye, it’s the start of another journey, another chapter of my life. I look forward to what the future holds and I hope you will walk with me. Thank you.”

He scored six goals in 91 appearances while for Nigeria national teams.

Mikel won African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title work Super Eagles in 2013 with several runners up titles with the Eagles.

He also won the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup as well as Club World Cup with Chelsea.

The Federal Federal Government has appointed erstwhile Super Eagles skipper, John Mikel Obi as Youth Ambassador to inspire young Nigerian to strive for excellence.

The event which took place at the NOC secretariat, National Stadium, Surulere Lagos on Friday is another of the Minister’s initiative geared towards driving a vibrant youth for national development.

Speaking at the event, Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr Sunday Dare described the former Chelsea legend as a role model whose lasting legacies in football development has continued to have positive impact on youths in the country.

The Minister promised to support Mikel’s vision and vision for sports development in the country and assured the Stoke City midfielder of Federal Government unalloyed support whenever he chose to invest in the country.

“Time will not permit me to say much about Mikel’s success as a footballer. He is our legend and a role model who has continued to impact the lives of youth positively.”

“It is it my pleasure to appoint you as Nigeria Youth Ambassador. It’s a new portfolio and your role as youth ambassador will be made known to Nigerians,” the Minister asserted.”

In his response, Mikel expressed delight with his new portfolio and promised to work with the sports Ministry to foster youth development in the country.
“I feel highly honored to be appointed as Youth Ambassador of this country, it is a great feeling. I am happy with this partnership and I promise to do my best to encourage and inspire the youths towards national development not just in football but in other sports like Basketball, Boxing among others”, said Mikel.

The event was followed by a tour of the National stadium, Surulere which is under going rehabilitation.

The Minister stated that alot of efforts had been put into the rehabilitation of the stadium with much emphasis on the pitch, scoreboard, tantran tracks and the spectators’ stand. He stressed that the Ministry had also partnered with a private organization to change the seat of the 45, 000 capacity Stadium to a standard one
“A lot has been put in place to ensure that the stadium returns to what it used to be. The seats are no longer in line with FIFA standard, but we have partnered a private organization to have modern seats in place,” he concluded.

Signed

Media office of the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development