The decision to hire German Bruno Labbadia as the Super Eagles’ new coach was not unanimous, with numerous NFF senior executives claiming the coach was pushed upon them.
They claimed that the NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau, and the Sports Development Minister, Senator John Enoh, made a unilateral decision, contradicting the NFF’s official declaration that both the technical committee and executive board approved Labbadia’s nomination.
In the final stages of the Super Eagles’ search for a new coach, both members of the NFF technical committee and the NFF board protested that they were not carried along.
As a result, Monday’s NFF board meeting, during which the president announced the new coach’s hiring, was brief and did not include any debates.
Meanwhile, investigations have shown that former Super Eagles World Cup captain Austin Okocha is one of the primary marketers of Labbadia.
Okocha played for Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga, while Labbadia was a striker and also managed various clubs, notably VfB Stuttgart. Labbadia, 58, was a late contender for the Super Eagles’ top job, but he had favorable “political support” from Sport Minister John Enoh.
According to some top officials, this was the key reason he beat out former Sweden coach Janne Andersson and Herve Renard.
