Labbadia’s conundrum as metaphor for rot in Glass House

To the consternation of many, Germany’s Bruno Labbadia, turned down Nigeria’s offer to coach the Super Eagles just four days after the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced his appointment. Stakeholders reckoned that the embarrassment would have been avoided if the federation had been meticulous in its recruitment process, GOWON AKPODONOR reports.

On Friday, August 30, Nigerians were jolted when news made the rounds that former Germany international, Bruno Labbadia, who was, three days earlier, announced as the 37th head coach of the Super Eagles, has rejected the offer.

The rejection, which first started as a rumour, was later confirmed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) when it said that the former Bayern Munich star turned down the job because stringent German tax laws ensured that the parties could not come to an agreeable financial settlement.

In a statement explaining Labbadia’s position, the NFF President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, said: “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 per cent to 40 per cent 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.”

Following Labbadia’s rejection of the Eagles’ job, the NFF fell back to its technical director, Austin Eguavoen, who had in the past been brought to the job in similar situations.

Labbadia’s rejection of the Super Eagles’ job is not the first time that the NFF has embarrassed the country with the announcement of a national team coach when it had not reached an agreement with the said coach.

Before he finally became Super Falcons’ head coach, Randy Waldrum, challenged the immediate past board of the federation, led by Amaju Pinnick, for announcing his appointment as the team’s coach without his consent.

Again, early this year, former Super Eagles star, Daniel Amokachi, who applied for the senior national team’s top job alongside Finidi George, and Emmanuel Amunike, among others, rejected his appointment as assistant coach to George, who got the head coach’s job.

Stakeholders are of the view that missteps like this were responsible for the senior national football team floundering in the race to the 2026 World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

In a World Cup qualifying group comprising such minnows as Zimbabwe, Benin Republic, Rwanda, and Lesotho, the Super Eagles have been so poor that they are languishing in fifth position behind South Africa, Rwanda, Benin Republic, and Lesotho.

The stakeholders are further alarmed that because of the NFF’s blunders and manifest disorganisation, the Super Eagles’ mantle of leadership has fallen again on Eguavoen, who has proved over time that “he doesn’t have the wherewithal to lead the team to success.”

They point at Eguavoen’s recent performance where he led Nigeria to a defeat by Ghana in the final leg of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying race.

They are worried that the NFF might be unwittingly conspiring to deny Nigerians the opportunity to see the Eagles at the World Cup in North America after the indignity of having to watch supposedly inferior teams competing at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Former international, Harrison Jalla, who said that he has abstained from commenting on issues concerning the NFF, especially its blunders with the Super Eagles, told The Guardian that he was jolted by shame brought to the country by the federation.

“Nothing surprises me about these NFF officials anymore,” Jalla said in a message to The Guardian. “I said so because NFF officials are usually not meticulous and diligent in dealing with issues of national importance.

“Secondly, Nigerians were also curious about the unholy hour of the announcement of Bruno Labbadia as the new Super Eagles Coach. Thirdly, NFF officials also know that there will be no consequence for their actions or inaction because as it is now, the Sports Minister, John Enoh seems to have given up on his oversight functions on the NFF.

“This has never happened in all my years in football, and it is a testament to the free fall of Nigerian football,” Jalla said.

Echoing Jalla’s sentiments, a former chairman of Gombe United FC, ShaibuGara-Gombe, said that the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF board has just added to the catalogue of embarrassing content in the nation’s football by announcing the engagement of a foreign coach without following due process.

“If they were unable to manage Amokachi and Finidi’s contracts, how do you expect this same NFF to manage the contract of a foreign coach?” Gombe asked.

“The NFA under Gusau, and sports ministry under John Own Enoh is like bandits and kidnappers terrorising our sports industry with no solution in sight,” he said.

“I earlier said that whenever you see any sports minister having a good relationship with the NFF, that minister tends to either be corrupt, or incompetent, or a combination of both. Gusau has no programme or direction, so also is the sports minister. He has no programme or direction.

“The story about German tax laws is bullshit and a cover-up by Gusau and Co. It is not the first time that the NFA has employed a European coach, and European tax laws are contagious. So, why is it that they never had issues with tax during the previous appointments? Why have issues with this one?

“This Bruno Labbadia issue is about the more you look the less you see. It also exposes the lack of sincerity and transparency of both the minister and the NFF under Gusau. The NFF waited until the nation was asleep before going ahead to announce Labbadia as coach of the Super Eagles, only for the German to counter these undertakers of Nigerian football. I pity Austin Eguavoen whom they always call upon to clear their vomit,” Gara Gombe said.

Former Green Eagles winger, Adegoke Adelabu, who is now a sports scientist, described Labbadia’s rejection of the Super Eagles’ job as the biggest international embarrassment in recent years.
“It is the highest form of disgrace to such a country like Nigeria with our achievements in sports in the world,” Adelabu, a former coach of Eko United FC said in his message to The Guardian.

“Up till now, I expected the presidency to have spoken about the disgrace, but corruption is commonplace in our institutions. The people who ought to have punished the culprits could be the suspects in all the allegations. We have just started,” Adelabu added.
A former club chairman, who pleaded anonymity, said that the NFF’s blunders were enough for the country to take a critical look at the managers of her football.

He said: “When we asked the NFF to mention Labbadia’s salary, it said that the contract signed has a non-disclosure component.

“That was what they did in the case of the NIKE jersey, which we don’t know how much the firm is paying the country for clothing the Super Eagles.
Some people have been running Nigerian football as if it is one lockup shop where anything goes. This type of thing will happen again if those responsible for the disgrace are not brought to book.”

Also faulting the NFF’s mode of operation, Italian coach, Roberto Landi, who also applied for the Super Eagles’ job, said that he was frustrated by the NFF’s approach to employing a coach for the national team.

The former Liberia coach told SportsBoom.com that the NFF behaved as if they were doing Labbadia a favour.

“If that’s the case, it’s crazy. No one wants to be treated that way or disrespected, and you see why one would walk out. I say it because no one wants to be treated in that way.”

Landi said he faced similar frustrations, as he did not receive any communication from the NFF since submitting his application.

“I spoke with my agent, and he’s assured me that all is well while looking at some possible offers on the table. I wondered about the silence since my resume got turned in and no one from the federation has reached out,” he revealed.

The 68-year-old coach emphasised the importance of ensuring that all contractual agreements are finalised before making any official announcements.

“All contractual agreements need to be covered before anything becomes official, and a big body like the NFF knows this,” the former Union SG boss noted.

He wished the Super Eagles’ interim coach, Eguavoen, success in the AFCON 2025 qualifying matches against Benin Republic and Rwanda.

The current sojourn in the Super Eagles will be the fourth time Eguavoen will be in charge of the three-time African champions, after earlier experiences in 2005-2007, 2010, and 2022.

Eguavoen first took charge of the Super Eagles in 2005 when the NFF dismissed Christian Chukwu, who failed to lead Nigeria to Germany’s 20226 World Cup. Angola beat Nigeria to that ticket.

Eguavoen was also in charge of the Super Eagles at the 2006 AFCON in Egypt, where the country finished with the bronze medal folowing defeat by Cote d’Ivoire in the semifinal.

The NFF once again called on him to lead the team to the Cameroon 2021 Africa Cup of Nations after the sack of Germany’s Gernot Rohr a few months into the competition.

However, Eguavoen’s team was knocked out of the competition in the second round by Tunisia. But rather than look for a new manager as it had promised Nigerians, the NFF put its faith in the former ACG of Lagos star to lead Nigeria to the last round of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying series against Ghana.

The exercise ended in heartbreak again as Ghana defeated Nigeria on the away goals rule to pick the ticket,

In his current task, Eguavoen has picked Enugu Rangers’ head coach, Fidelis Ilechukwu, and Daniel Ogunmodede of Remo Stars to assist him plot the downfall of the Cheetahs of Benin Republic and the Amavubi of Rwanda in the AFCON qualifying matches.

Ilechukwu led the Flying Antelopes to triumph in Nigeria’s elite division last season, with Ogunmodede’s Remo Stars finishing in second place. They have been joined in Uyo by TomazZorec, a fitness trainer from Slovenia, goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa and match analyst, Eboboritse Uwejamomere.