Grapevine

NFF turns to Eguavoen as Labbadia rejects Eagles job

“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,” NFF president Ibrahim Gusau said in a statement on Friday.

“It is not possible for us to shoulder the responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32 per and 40 per cent 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.”

Labbadia’s decision comes seven days before Nigeria’s 2025 AFCON qualifiers against the Benin Republic, leaving the NFF to turn to Eguavoen.

“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, September 7) and Rwanda (Kigali, September 10),” the statement added.