German football coach, Bruno Labbadia has revealed that money was not the primary reason he turned down the opportunity to coach the Nigerian national football team.

Labbadia was close to being appointed as the Super Eagles’ head coach, but he withdrew from the role after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) prematurely announced the deal in the media.

There were initial reports suggesting that unresolved tax issues led to his decision to reject the offer, but Labbadia has now clarified the real reasons behind his decision.

“I wanted to go abroad. The basic requirement for me was to visit Nigeria and see everything on-site. However, this became impossible after the announcement,” Labbadia explained in an interview with Martin Harnik for Bild.

“It was no longer about the pay. There were various organizational issues that made things problematic.

“Then the situation became more constrained, and I didn’t have two days left to meet with the national team. That’s when I decided to pull the plug because I increasingly felt uncomfortable.”

Following Labbadia’s decision to pull out, the NFF has since named Austin Eguavoen as interim head coach of the Super Eagles.