Siasia unhappy with preparations

Nigeria under-23 coach Samson Siasia is unhappy with his preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games because of financial problems.

The country has been drawn to play Holland, USA and Japan in Group B of the tournament in August.

But the former international striker says his plans for the competition are being derailed by inaction on the part of the Nigerian sports authorities.

"I intend to monitor on our opponents because they have all lined up friendlies but I keep on hearing 'there is no money to do anything'," Siasia said.

"My plans were to make arrangements to either watch their matches or get the tapes but things are being made difficult for me."

Siasia added that his plans for a pre-tournament camp in Portugal have also been derailed by financial problems, saying it could affect their title chances.

"I secured a venue in Portugal for our training camp ahead of the Olympics but the deadline to make payment has elapsed," he said.

"If we want to do well we at the tournament we need the financial backing to prepare for the world's best.

"If the support is not there, there is no way we can focus on the big task ahead."

Siasia led the 'Dream Team IV' to qualify for the Olympics two months ago after edging out arch-rivals Ghana.

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