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After the shock of Bruno Labbadia’s rejection of his appointment as Nigeria’s head Coach, the NFF has attempted to clear the air on the sudden, yet embarrassing situation.
Labbadia was announced as Super Eagles head coach on Tuesday, expectedly replacing Finidi George, who himself only lasted four matches at the helms.
The alacrity of Labbadia’s, foot in mouth, announcement as Coach was followed, soon after, by Nigeria’s squad list for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers, which gets under way next month.
A Premature Announcement
Bruno Labbadia. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
While it argues that the deal was already agreed in principle, albeit no duration or key objectives were stated in the press statement issued with the Secretary General, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi’s quotes appended to it, the NFF it now appears, apparently jumped the gun.
According to an official statement released, Friday, where the NFF President, Ibrahim Gusau, narrated the scenario with Labbadia’s negotiation, it is clear there hadn’t been an official signing between the parties.
Three days after the 58 year-old was announced, the NFF was still negotiating terms of a new demand by the German Coach’s representatives over Tax obligations.
NFF President Ibrahim Gusau. Photo | Tribune Online
“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.”
A Farcical Episode On Repeat
Circa 2016, the NFF made a similar announcement, but of Frenchman Paul Le Guen as Super Eagles coach.
Amaju Pinnick.
A day later, Le Guen rebutted, dismissing the NFF’s offer and announcement.
Former NFF President, and Gusau’s predecessor, Amaju Pinnick also made a premature announcement of Emmanuel Amuneke as Nigeria Men’s U20 NT coach in 2015, but the latter declined and denied reaching any agreement with the NFF.
“No doubt coaching the national team is something I consider a huge privilege and when you even get to win honours with the national team, I think there are very few experiences that can beat that.
Emmanuel Amuneke was head coach of Nigeria’s U17 MNT to the World Cup in 2015.
“However, I don’t subscribe to certain situations and certainly I don’t think announcing the appointment of a coach on air without a meeting with the party involved or a written contract is not how I’ll choose to work.”
Who Takes Charge of Super Eagles Now?
Although the NFF isn’t likely to take any further actions against Mr. Labbadia ( as there are no legal grounds for one), it leaves the Federation in a desperate situation to fully turn their attention to executing the very important 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers.
In September, Nigeria will kick off their bid for an elusive fourth AFCON title, with qualifying matches against Benin Republic and Rwanda on the 7th and 10th respectively.
The said press statement confirmed Austin Eguavoen’s return to the technical area, two years after his last job as Super Eagles coach.
Augustine Eguavoen (R) during the Africa Cup of Nations 2021. (Photo by DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO/AFP via Getty Images)
It reads in part:
“…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, 7th September) and Rwanda (Kigali, 10th September).”
