The earlier-announced appointment of German tactician Bruno Labbadia as head coach of the Super Eagles is off the table.
The former Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen manager was on Tuesday announced as the next coach of the three-time African champions.
However, the deal is said to have fallen through following issues regarding tax on the agreed pay.
“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 President of the country’s football-governing body, NFF, said in a statement on social media.
“The tax details were never part of our discussions, and he had personally agreed to all terms before the tax issue came up,” Ibrahim Musa Gusau stressed.
“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.”
Labbadia was expected to take charge of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Rwanda.
NFF Technical Director Augustine Eguavoen will now handle those two games before a permanent manager is appointed.
Swede Janne Anderson, Frenchman Herve Renard and Italian Fabio Cannavaro were some of the contenders for the top job.
