Nigeria U23 coach Samson Siasia has ruled out Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel for this year's Beijing Olympics.

"I have announced a provisional squad for the Olympics and Mikel is not amongst those I have considered. We have to move on to another level.

"He wasn't there for the qualifiers and the team made it without him, I will stand by my decision," Siasia told BBC Sport.

"There has been much talk about Mikel and it's an unwanted distraction at this point, the players I have here made it through the qualifiers and I still have strong faith in what I have available. "