The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that strict German tax regulations have led to the cancellation of Bruno Labbadia’s appointment as the head coach of the Super Eagles. In his place, Augustine Eguavoen, the NFF’s Technical Director, will manage the team for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic in Uyo on September 7 and Rwanda in Kigali on September 10.

This will be Eguavoen’s fourth time leading the three-time African champions, having previously held the role from 2005-2007, in 2010, and in 2022.

 Eguavoen explained that the tax complications were not included in the original contract negotiations with Labbadia. “We’ve been dealing with tax issues for the past three days. I made it clear that the NFF wouldn’t agree to cover the additional tax percentage on his salary, as demanded by the German tax authorities. Paying an extra 32% to 40% of his salary on top of the agreed amount is simply not feasible for us,” he stated.

NFF President Ibrahim Gusau added, “The NFF and Mr. Labbadia had reached an agreement in principle before we announced his appointment. The tax issues weren’t part of our initial discussions, and he had agreed to all terms before this issue arose. Despite our attempts to find a solution, he insisted that the NFF pay the full tax amount, which is beyond our financial capabilities.”

Labbadia’s appointment was initially announced earlier this week, and he would have been the sixth German to coach the Super Eagles, following in the footsteps of Karl-Heinz Marotzke (1970-1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008), and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021).