The bizarre mistake with Mikel John Obi’s name

John Obi Mikel, the Nigerian midfielder who rose to prominence in the mid-2000s, was well known for his calm presence on the ball and ability to control the tempo of a game. At the online betting sites 1xBet punters can also place their wagers on other big names of Nigerian football too.

 

He had a great career that lasted between 2004 and 2021 that saw him playing on 7 different professional clubs:

 

• Lyn;
• Chelsea;
• Tianjin TEDA;
• Middlesbrough;
• Trabzonspor;
• Stoke City;
• and Kuwait SC.

 

However, he also had quite an unusual name mix-up that he eventually took advantage of. Remember to try the 1xBet online betting sites today so you can enjoy the best wagers on world football too.

A weird confusion

Born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna in Jos, Nigeria, Mikel became widely known as John Obi Mikel. The “Obi” was a nickname derived from his family name, Obinna, and the “Mikel” part is basically what will be explained later. It can already be said that it is related to his birth name, “Michael.” Other great footballers from Nigeria and elsewhere can also be wagered at any moment if you become a member of the football online betting 1xBet platform.

 

So, Mikel was selected to play the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The Nigerian Football Association was tasked with sending to FIFA the names of the 20 players that were going to take part in the tournament. Here is where some confusion occurred. Rather than writing “Michael” in the form that was going to be sent to FIFA, an official of the Nigerian Football Federation wrote “Mikel”. As they say, the rest is history. It is also possible to explore the online football betting 1xBet platform in order to wager on FIFA youth competitions as well.

Taking advantage of this mistake

Rather than feeling enraged or offended by the mistake with his name, Mikel actually liked it quite a lot. In fact, he began to ask others to refer to him by Mikel rather than Michael. When arriving at Chelsea in 2006, he also asked people to call him “Mikel John Obi” rather than “John Obi Mikel”. Speaking about Chelsea, it is also possible to try the 1xBet mobil platforms for both iOS and Android and place your bets on the Premier League too.

 

10 years later, in 2016, Mikel decided to legalize things. He formally changed his identity documents so they would have the name Mikel John Obi rather than his original birth name John Michael Nchekwube Obinna. This is one of those strange stories where a mistake that could have enraged someone actually turned into something positive. Right now your mobil devices can also have all 1xBet services, and to do so, you can download the official applications for Android and iOS ecosystems.