Bruno Labbadia.
Barely three days after being appointed Nogeria’s Super Eagles head coach, Bruno Labbadia has reportedly rejected the appointment.
Kicker, a German football magazine, reported that the 58-year-old tactician pulled out of the deal with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Friday.
The NFF, in confirming the German tactician’s withdrawal from the deal, in a statement, blamed the development on the “stringent regulations of German tax authorities”.
Ibrahim Gusau, NFF president, said the tax details “came up” after both parties had reached “an agreement in principle”.
He added that Labbadia wanted NFF “to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary” and was “adamant” about the demand.
The NFF president said the responsibility would be “32% to 40% of his salary after paying the agreed monthly wage”, and the Federation “cannot do that”.
NFF had on Tuesday announced Labbadia as the Eagles’ new head coach.
The Federation said an agreement had been reached with the German, adding that he would take over the team immediately.
However, Kicker’s report cited the “public rush” to announce Labbadia’s arrival as the significant reason the manager cancelled the deal.
From sources in the loop of the deal, it was understood that the German coach had communicated his U-turn to the NFF.
Labbadia would have been the sixth German coach to take over the Super Eagles.
He would have followed in the footsteps of his compatriots: Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Göller, Manfred Höner, Berti Vogts and Gernot Rohr.
Labbadia was announced as the successor to Finidi George who stepped down from the role in June — a few days after the NFF announced a plan to appoint a foreign technical adviser for the Super Eagles.
With the latest development, the Federation has in the mean time, announced that Austin Eguavoen would now take charge of the Super Eagles for the forthcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification matches against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.
The Eagles are scheduled to face the Benin Republic at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on September 7 before flying to Kigali to play Rwanda three days later.
