Bruno Labbadia makes Nigeria U-turn as NFF appoints Augustine Eguavoen as interim coach
The country's football authorities had appointed the former Bayer Leverkusen manager to replace Finidi George, with the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations matches against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the horizon.
However, just four days after the announcement, German media reported that the former Germany international had walked away, leaving the three-time African champions in a difficult position with only days remaining before the crucial matches against the Squirrels and Wasps.
In a statement provided to Flashscore, the NFF explained that strict regulations by German tax authorities led to the collapse of the agreement, while confirming the appointment of Eguavoen on an interim basis.
“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days, and I told him clearly that there was no way the NFF will agree to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary that will be demanded by German tax authorities,” President Ibrahim Gusau was quoted per the NFF release.
“It is not possible for us to shoulder the responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32% to 40% of his salary, after paying the agreed monthly wage.
“The NFF and Mr Labbadia reached an agreement in principle before we made the announcement that he would become the head coach of the Super Eagles. The tax details were never part of our discussions, and he had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up.
“We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that.
“In the event, Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Coach Augustine Eguavoen will now take charge of the Super Eagles for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Uyo, 7th September) and Rwanda (Kigali, 10th September).”
This marks Eguavoen's fourth stint as head coach of the Super Eagles. Following the sacking of Gernot Rohr on the eve of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the former Nigeria defender was saddled with the responsibility of leading the three-time African champions to Cameroon 2021.
At the biennial African football tournament, he guided the team to the Round of 16, where they were eliminated by Tunisia. During his tenure, the Super Eagles also missed out on qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Nigeria will face Benin Republic at home on September 7th, followed by an away match against Rwanda at Kigali’s Amahoro Stadium three days later.
