Sports Minister, John Enoh has described the sudden withdrawal of German tactician, Bruno Labbadia from his appointment as head coach of the Super Eagles as embarrassing.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced Labbadia’s appointment in August 2024, only for the former Germany international to publicly state a few days later that he would not be managing the Super Eagles.

Afterwards, the NFF said in a statement that the deal collapsed because the federation refused to pay his taxes to the German government. 

In an interview with Arise TV, Enoh revealed that he promptly approached the NFF seeking an explanation for the abrupt turn of events.

“This was very embarrassing and regrettable”, the sports minister said.

“I immediately got across to the NFF on this and asked why go public on an appointment of a coach when you have not concluded. Their defense is that they got a commitment from the coach on this.”

Following Labbadia’s withdrawal, Augustine Eguavoen has assumed the interim role of leading the Super Eagles for the fourth time in his managerial career.

A few weeks after his appointment, Eguavoen helped the Super Eagles of Nigeria to record one win against Benin Republic and an away draw against Rwanda in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers this month.