NFF Reveals Why Bruno Labbadia Won’t Be Super Eagles New Coach 3 Days After His Appointment

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has revealed why German coach, Bruno Labbadia, will not become the new head manager of the Super Eagles.

KanyiDaily recalls that on Tuesday, the NFF announced Bruno Labbadia as the new Super Eagles coach with “immediate effect”.

However, in a statement on Friday night, the NFF revealed that the “stringent” tax laws in Germany have made it impossible to go ahead with Labbadia’s appointment.

NFF stated that Labbadia insisted they handle his taxes with the German government, which would amount to nearly 40% of his salary.

NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau said they found this request unacceptable and decided it was not feasible to cover such an expense.

With the deal for Labbadia no longer an option, the NFF has announced that Technical Director Coach Augustine Eguavoen will take over as head coach of the Super Eagles.

Eguavoen will lead the team in their upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic in Uyo on September 7 and Rwanda in Kigali on September 10.

The statement reads, “Stringent regulations of German tax authorities have conspired to abort the agreement between the Nigeria Football Federation and Coach Bruno Labbadia for the latter to mount the saddle as Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men Team, Super Eagles.

“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. 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),” President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, said on Friday evening

This will be Eguavoen’s fourth time leading the three-time African champions, following previous stints in 2005-2007, 2010, and 2022.

KanyiDaily recalls that the appointment of Bruno Labbadia, as the Super Eagles coach had sparked controversy due to his history of being sacked nine times.