Okocha shares story of how Fenerbahçe helped him get Turkish passport

Former Super Eagles captain Augustine Okocha, known as Jay Jay Okocha, has shared that Fenerbahçe gave him a Turkish passport with a local name during his two years at the club.

Okocha revealed that the club took this step after Paris Saint-Germain showed interest in signing him. Fenerbahçe insisted he was “not for sale.”

Speaking on the Obi-Wan podcast on Monday, Okocha, often called JJ, explained that the Turkish club cared for him so much that letting him leave became “a good problem” for them.

He mentioned that he was asked to choose a Turkish name for the passport. He picked “Muhammed Yahuz,” a name he borrowed from a club staff member he liked.

“They gave me Turkish passport with Turkish name. They asked me to choose Turkish name, so the easiest one was Muhammed… was a guy that was working for us. So we all loved him, so I picked his name,” Okocha said.

Okocha added that the passport was needed because Fenerbahçe refused to let him leave when PSG showed interest. He had to briefly stop training to push the move through.

“When PSG came, they said I’m not leaving, I can’t leave, I’m not for sale. So I had to run away, stop training,” he said.

He noted that this showed how much the club valued him. “It was a problem for me to leave. They didn’t want me to leave, which is a good problem,” Okocha said.

Okocha also shared a funny moment when he almost missed being called by his adopted name while flying. He was not used to traveling with the Turkish document.

“The first day I was travelling with this passport, I sat down on my seat. So they were telling me, ‘Welcome Mr. Yahuz.’ I didn’t know I was the one they were talking to. I forgot my name,” he said.

Okocha eventually moved to PSG in 1998 after a transfer saga that saw him stop training to make the move happen. He still travels back to Turkey with the passport today, though most people still call him “JJ.”

“Some sometimes they don’t even know. Some they don’t know that I’m the one,” he said.

Okocha played for two seasons in Turkey after joining Fenerbahçe from Eintracht Frankfurt. He later moved to PSG for a fee that was reported to be the highest ever paid for an African footballer at that time.