The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has clarified that the email claiming World Cup-winning Spanish legend Xavi Hernandez had applied for the Indian football team’s head coach role was “not genuine.” A day earlier, an AIFF official had said Xavi was among the applicants, but investigations revealed the email was a prank sent by a 19-year-old impersonating the former Barcelona star.
“The AIFF received an e-mail furnishing the applications from Spanish coaches Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez. The authenticity of their applications could not be confirmed, and it has since emerged that the e-mail applications were not genuine,” AIFF said in a media release.
AIFF national team director Subrata Paul had initially confirmed Xavi’s application to The Times of India. A viral video later revealed the email address used was ‘xaviofficialfcb@gmail.com’.
Journalist Naman Suri exposed the prank on social media, posting, “It wasn’t Xavi who applied to coach India. It was a 19-year-old who used a fake email ID. I spoke to him and he showed me a screen recording from his Sent folder.”
Meanwhile, the AIFF has shortlisted three actual candidates for the role, reportedly including Khalid Jamil, Stephen Constantine, and Slovakia’s Stefan Tarkovic.
(With inputs from agencies)