Nigeria captain John Obi Mikel disclosed that former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte left him out of his squad for opting to play for Dream Team VI at the 2016 Olympics.
Mikel was called up by coach Samson Siasia for the country's campaign at Rio de Janeiro and he led the team to a bronze medal.
Following his return from the tournament, the midfielder was frozen out of Conte's squad, which made seek a greener pasture in the Chinese Super League with Tianjin Teda.
"For me, it was a decision I had to take because when the opportunity came up to either go to Rio or play for Chelsea," Mikel told the NFF media.