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| Bruno Labbadia |
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has terminated its agreement with German coach Bruno Labbadia to become the Head Coach of the Super Eagles due to stringent regulations imposed by German tax authorities.
The deal, which was announced earlier in the week, fell apart when Labbadia insisted that the NFF cover the tax percentage on his salary, a demand the federation could not meet.
According to NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, the tax issue arose after both parties had reached an agreement in principle. Labbadia wanted the NFF to offset the tax percentage, estimated to be between 32% to 40% of his salary, in addition to his agreed monthly wage.
However, the NFF was unable to comply with this request, leading to the cancellation of the agreement, Musa explained.
“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. It is not possible for us to shoulder the responsibility of shelling out another money, between 32% to 40% 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,” President of NFF, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, said on Friday evening, August 30, 2024.
This is the third time foreign coaches have failed to coach the three-time African champions after being announced by Nigeria’s football governing body.
In 2016, Frenchman Paul Le Guen claimed he wasn’t contacted and didn’t reach any agreement with NFF before he was appointed to handle the Super Eagles.
In 1995, Brazilian Carlos Alberto Torres was named Super Eagles head coach but he didn’t resume work.
Meanwhile, Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Augustine Eguavoen will now take charge of the Super Eagles for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Uyo, 7th September) and Rwanda (Kigali, 10th September).
This marks Eguavoen's fourth stint as the coach of the Super Eagles, following previous roles in 2005-2007, 2010, and 2022
The development comes after NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi in the early hours of Tuesday, August 27, 2024, said: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”
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