NFF blames collapse of Labbadia deal on German tax law, names Eguavoen as caretaker coach

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) blamed the “stringent regulations of German tax authorities” for the collapse of Bruno Labbadia’s appointment as Super Eagles head coach. 

On Tuesday, NFF announced Labbadia as the Eagles’ new coach.

The federation said an agreement had been reached with the German, adding that he would take over the team immediately.

On Friday, however, there were reports that the 58-year-old tactician had pulled out of the deal.

The reports said the manager cancelled the deal because of the “public rush” to announce his arrival.

In a statement, NFF confirmed the development and cited “tax issue” as the cause of the contract collapse.

Ibrahim Gusau, NFF president, said the tax details “came up” after both parties had reached “an agreement in principle”.

He added that Labbadia wanted NFF “to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary” and was “adamant” about the demand.

The NFF president said the responsibility would be “32% to 40% of his salary after paying the agreed monthly wage”, and the federation “cannot do that”.

The federation then announced that Austin Eguavoen will now take charge of the Super Eagles for the forthcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification matches against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

The Eagles are scheduled to face Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on September 7 before flying to Kigali to play Rwanda three days later.