NFF confirm deal with Bruno Labbadia is off; Eguavoen returns for fourth spell as Nigeria coach

Through a press release on Friday night, the Nigeria Football Federation have announced that the agreement with Bruno Labbadia to take over as Super Eagles coach has fallen through. 

The NFF had earlier announced that Labbadia would be the new boss of the three-time African champions and will resume his duty ahead of the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda.

However, the Nigerian football governing body have now stated the former Bayern Munich striker will be unable to take charge of Nigeria due to circumstances beyond their control.

If Labbadia were to become the coach of the Super Eagles, the NFF would have to cover the tax on his salary as mandated by German tax laws, a burden the federation is unwilling to bear.

The Nigerian Federation underlined that the tax details were never part of their discussions with Labbadia, and the German had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up. 

Therefore, Augustine Eguavoen, who is the Technical Director of the Nigerian Federation, has now been appointed as the interim cost ahead of the forthcoming qualification games.

Eguavoen is now set to take over the position for the fourth time having been in charge between 2005 and 2007, 2010 and 2022.

His last stint saw Nigeria miss out on the Fifa World Cup, having been beaten to the ticket by arch-rival Ghana, and he was replaced by Jose Peseiro.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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