Austin Eguavoen, Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF) has refuted claim of stepping down as the interim coach of the Super Eagles at the aftermath of 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda.
Eguavoen was selected by the NFF to lead the two games at the aftermath of inability of the federation to secure the services of German coach, Bruno Labbadia, over what was described as stringent German tax laws.
“In the event, Technical Director of Nigeria Football Federation, Coach Augustine Eguavoen, will now take charge of the Super Eagles for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Uyo, September 7) and Rwanda (Kigali, September 10),” this was disclosed in the statement announcing his appointment
The 59-year-old led Nigeria to a triumphant 3-0 win over the Benin Republic in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, previousnSaturday before being held to a goaless draw in the second game of the series by Rwanda on Tuesday.
After Tuesday’s goaless draw in Kigali, Eguavoen was declared to have stepped down as interim coach but report has denied the claim 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 stated 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,” Eguavoen said.
