Sports
BREAKING: Eguavoen To Guide Super Eagles As Deal With German Coach Labbadia Falters
By Benjamin Abioye
![NFF Labbadia](https://gwg.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Eguavoen.jpg)
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has canceled its agreement with Coach Bruno Labbadia and named Coach Augustine Eguavoen to lead the Super Eagles into the next qualifying matches matches of the African Cup of Nations tournament. The NFF cited tax issues as the reason for the collapse of its agreement with Labbadia.
NFF President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, explained in a statement on Friday that the issue arose from tax obligations that were not part of the initial agreement with the coach.
Gusau stated, “We have been discussing the tax matter for the past three days. I made it clear to him that the NFF cannot cover the additional tax percentage, which is between 32% to 40% of his salary. After agreeing on his monthly wage, it’s impossible for us to take on the extra tax burden.”
The NFF and Labbadia had previously reached an understanding before the tax issue emerged. Gusau mentioned that Labbadia had initially agreed to all terms before insisting that the NFF also handle the tax payments. “We tried to be flexible, but he remained firm on the NFF paying the full tax amount, which we simply cannot do,” Gusau added.
As a result, the NFF’s Technical Director, Coach Augustine Eguavoen, will step in to lead the Super Eagles for their upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches. The games are set to take place on September 7 against Benin Republic in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and on September 10 against Rwanda in Kigali.
This will be Eguavoen’s fourth time coaching the Super Eagles, having previously led the team between 2005-2007, 2010, and 2022.
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