I was asked to pay bribe before playing for Nigeria - Alaba

David Olatukunbo Alaba. An Austrian professional footballer, plays for German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and the Austria National Team - Getty

Bayern Munich and Austria left-back, David Alaba has revealed that he was asked to pay a bribe by Golden Eaglets coaches before he could become part of the players’ for the 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup.


The late Yemi Tella was in charge of the Eaglets at the time.

He said his mother insisted that there was no way she going to part with a single penny.

Alaba made this known in an interview with All Nigeria Soccer.

He also labelled the Nigeria U-17 coaches, jokers and vowed not to respond to their greetings if he is approached by the coaches.

He claimed to have trained with the Nigeria U17s which contained the likes of Lukman Haruna, Macauley Chrisantus and Rabiu Ibrahim ahead of the tournament in South Korea and impressed during the training camp.

Born in Vienna to a Filipino mother and Nigerian father, Alaba had been eligible to represent the Super Eagles before he became cap-tied to his country of birth, Austria.

Frank Ribery (right) celebrates with David Alaba (left) after scoring for Bayern Munich - Getty

Alaba is a six-time Austrian Footballer of the Year. He has earned 68 caps for Austria, scoring 13 goals and represented the country at the 2016 European Championship.

The late Tella Golden Eaglet team won the FIFA U-17 World Cup on the 9th of September 2007.

That was the third time Nigeria had that title after previous wins in 1985 in China and 1993 in Japan. SportingLife