Jay-Jay Okocha Discloses Weird Reason He Rejected Offer From Serie a Club Lazio
- Super Eagles legend Jay-Jay Okocha disclosed why he turned down an approach from Italian club SS Lazio early in his European career
- Okocha was playing for Eintracht Frankfurt when Lazio made contact, but the reason behind the offer troubled him deeply
- South African defender Mark Fish later became the first African to represent Lazio, joining the club for $1.8 million in 1996
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Super Eagles legend Jay-Jay Okocha has opened up about a transfer approach from Italian Serie A club SS Lazio that he turned down during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, saying the club's motivation had nothing to do with football.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, Okocha recalled how Lazio reached out while he was still establishing himself in the German Bundesliga in the early 1990s.
Source: Getty Images
Rather than being sought for his ability on the pitch, he said the club wanted him to serve a symbolic purpose, to become the first African player to represent them.
“I had an offer from Lazio when I was in Frankfurt, they said that they wanted to use me to break that barrier of having an African play for them,” Okocha said.
“I looked at myself and said 'am I now a freedom fighter or just a young footballer, that I'm coping with what you people are seeing does not mean that I love it.' That was a deal breaker for me.”
Okocha on racism in European football
The tricky attacking midfielder used the Lazio episode to illustrate a broader point about the discrimination African players faced during their early years in European football.
He said that tolerating racist behaviour on the continent did not mean he was comfortable with it, and that being used as a political symbol by a club was a line he was not willing to cross as a young man trying to build his career.
Okocha went on to play in three of Europe's top five leagues across a celebrated career that took him from Frankfurt to Turkey, then France with Paris Saint-Germain, and later England with Bolton Wanderers, but he never played in Italy.
The honour of becoming the first African to play for SS Lazio ultimately went to South African defender Mark Fish, who joined the club for $1.8 million in 1996, according to Mail and Guardian.
Okocha's comments offer a rare glimpse into the personal and ethical calculations African footballers had to make as the sport began opening up to players from the continent in the 1990s.
How Okocha almost signed for Bayern Munich
Legit.ng previously reported that JJ Okocha revealed that he almost signed for German giants Bayern Munich at the start of his career in Europe.
The Super Eagles legend confirmed that a German rule on the registration of players who recently turned 18 and Bayern's unwillingness botched the deal.
Source: Legit.ng
