Austin Eguavoen, Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, has denied stepping down as the Super Eagles’ interim coach following their two 2025 AFCON qualifiers against the Benin Republic and Rwanda.
The NFF hired Eguavoen to take command of the two games after the federation was unable to obtain the services of German coach Bruno Labbadia due to what they called strict German tax regulations.
“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),” the statement announcing his appointment had partly read.
The 59-year-old guided Nigeria to a convincing 3-0 victory over Benin Republic in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, last Saturday before being held to a goalless draw by Rwanda in the series’ second game on Tuesday.
Following Tuesday’s goalless draw in Kigali, Eguavoen was reported to have stepped down as temporary coach, but the gaffer has disputed the rumours ahead of next month’s AFCON qualifying 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 isn’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.
