The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed that its technical adviser Augustine Eguavoen has returned as interim Super Eagles coach following the collapse of the deal to bring in German coach Bruno Labbadia who had looked set to take up the national team job.
The decision was confirmed in a statement issued by NFF’s Director of Communications Ademola Olajire on Friday, hours after it was announced that an agreement has been reached between the NFF and Labbadia.
NFF President Musa Gusau explained that the deal was aborted due to complications arising from stringent tax regulations imposed by German authorities.
He stated that while an agreement in principle had been reached with Labbadia, the issue of tax obligations became a stumbling block.
“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days”, Gusau said.
“I told him clearly that there was no way the NFF will agree to offset the tax percentage on his salary, which German authorities require.
“It is not possible for us to shoulder that responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32 per cent to 40 per cent of his salary, after paying the agreed monthly wage.
Gusau continued: “The NFF and 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.”
The NFF president added that despite efforts to negotiate, Labbadia insisted that the NFF cover the full tax amount, which led to the breakdown of the agreement.
Eguavoen will lead the team in the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic in Uyo on the 7th of September and Rwanda in Kigali on the 10th of September.
Following his appointment, the 59 year-old reaffirmed his commitment to the task at hand via his Facebook page, stating:
“I will do it for the love of the country and the game. Remember, football gave me name and fame, and the country gave me the opportunity, so it’s difficult to say no at this point because of the circumstances we find ourselves in.”
Eguavoen will be taking up the Super Eagles head coach role for the fourth time following his previous tenures from 2005 to 2007, 2010, and 2022.
His last stint saw Nigeria miss out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, having been beaten to the ticket by arch-rival Ghana in the qualification playoffa, and he was replaced by Jose Peseiro.
