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| Taribo West |
Former Super Eagles defender Taribo West says he was sent packing from Italian giants AC Milan by The Mafia. Taribo joined the Rossoneri from city rivals Inter Milan in December 1999 and made just four appearances before he was sent on loan to Derby County, then in the English Premier League.
In an interview with ScoreNigeria, Taribo said Italian mafia could not accept the fact that an African defender would play ahead of their Italian club legends Allesandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi.
"The Mafia would do anything in their powers to make sure I was done with at Milan," Taribo said. "They cooked a vicious story in the press that I was injured in the desperate bid to send me out of Milan.
"The doctors were bribed to say I was injured, but it was a lie. They did that because they felt it was unthinkable for an African player to take the place of those three aging defenders.
"Liverpool came with an offer, but at the end of the day, I had to settle for Derby County."
Taribo had a successful playing career at both international and club levels, notably winning gold as a member of Nigeria's inaugural "Dream Team" that shocked the football world at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Taribo also represented Nigeria at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup™.
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