Chelsea legend, Mikel Obi has disclosed that former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich was supportive of rescuing attempts for his father who was kidnapped in 2018.

According to Mikel, he found out his father, Michel Obi was kidnapped a few hours before Nigeria's game against Argentina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

He noted that it was the second time and it left him devasted because he had a big game at hand.

"My dad got kidnapped while I was playing for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup in Russia," he told talkSports.

"We were about to play against Argentina. Two hours before the game I got a phone call from my brother saying my dad got kidnapped."

"The first time he was kidnapped was shocking, but the second time was even more shocking because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life."

He said he could not inform anyone and was left alone in his room for about 30 minutes.

“I couldn't leave the room. I couldn't tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do?"

"But we're about to go into the biggest game of our lives. We're about to play against Lionel Messi and Argentina."

Speaking on Chelsea's support at the time, he revealed that Abramovich offered to send people to Nigeria to rescue his father.

"Chelsea were very supportive. I remember Roman Abramovich saying 'do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out' — I was like, how are you going to do this?"

"He said don't worry about that. Just let me know if you want that option, I can do it."

Eventually, Mikel's father was released four days later.

Mikel Obi's revelation comes in reaction to Luis Diaz's parents' kidnapping. The Liverpool forward's father is still held hostage with the mother released.


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