German tax law blocks Labbadia’s appointment as Super Eagles coach as Eguavoen steps in

Coach Bruno Labbadia’s appointment as the head coach of the Super Eagles has been botched by stringent regulations of German tax authorities, the Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed.

Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communications in a statement on Friday quoted the NFF President, Musa Gusau as confirming that the deal between the NFF and Labbadia had been botched.

Gusau blamed stringent regulations of German tax authorities for the abortion of the agreement between the NFF and Coach Labbadia.

According to Gusau, the NFF and Labbadia reached an agreement in principle before his announcement that he would become the Head Coach of the Super Eagles.

He however said the tax details were never part of the discussions.

He added that Labbadia had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up.

“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days.

“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 per cent to 40 per cent of his salary, after paying the agreed monthly wage.

“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,” Gusau said.

He added that with the latest development, Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Coach Augustine Eguavoen will now take charge of the Super Eagles.

Eguavoen will lead the team for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic in Uyo, Sept. 7 and Kigali, Rwanda Kigali, on Sept. 10.

This would be Eguavoen’s fourth stint in charge of the three-time African champions, after earlier experience in 2005 to 2007, 2010 and 2022.(NAN)

Eguavoen denies quitting as interim coach of Super Eagles

JUST IN: Eguavoen steps down as NFF terminates contracts of entire technical crew of Super Eagles

Austin Eguavoen has denied stepping down as the interim coach of the Super Eagles after the two 2025 AFCON qualifiers against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.

Eguavoen was appointed by the NFF to take charge of the two games following the inability of the federation to secure the services of German coach, Bruno Labbadia.

The 59-year-old led Nigeria to a 3-0 win over the Benin Republic in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last Saturday before being held to a goalless draw in the second game against Rwanda on Tuesday.

After Tuesday’s goalless draw in Kigali, London reports broke out that Eguavoen stepped down as interim coach but the gaffer has denied the reports ahead of next month’s AFCON qualifiers double header against Libya.

“It’s quite unfortunate that people just trigger something that is not correct. And the situation we are in now, we don’t need negative stories,” Eguavoen said on arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja in a media chat.

“I only talked about sitting down with the hierarchy of the federation after these two games and we will see how to go about prosecuting the next games.

“But when I saw that story I was worried. Whatever people are reading out there aren’t correct. I’m still very much in charge. I’m the Technical Director of the NFF, saddled with the responsibility of taking the Super Eagles at this moment,” he said.

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Murdered Ugandan Olympic athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei to be buried September 14

The funeral for Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died in Kenya after being set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, will be held on September 14 in her home country.

The 33-year-old, who competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics last month, succumbed to severe burns on Thursday, September 5, four days after being doused with petrol and set alight at her home in western Kenya.

Doctors said she had suffered burns to more than 80 per cent of her body after the attack on Sunday last week.

The attack was carried out by Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, who also suffered serious burns and is being treated in hospital.

“The burial date of Rebecca Cheptegei has been set for September 14, in Kongasis sub-county in Bukwo district (eastern Uganda),” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral organising committee, told AFP.

Bukwo is the location of Cheptegei’s family home and lies on the border with Kenya about 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Last week Friday, the city of Paris said it would honour Cheptegei, who came 44th in her Olympic marathon debut in August, by naming a sports venue after her.