Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez applications are a hoax, says Indian football federation
Spanish coaches Xavi Hernandez (left) and Pep Guardiola have not applied to helm India's football team.
NEW DELHI – Coaching applications supposedly from Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez to manage India's football team turned out to be a hoax, the national association said on July 26.
Subrata Paul, national team director of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), told The Times of India on July 24 that Xavi had applied for the vacant job.
The report also quoted an AIFF technical committee member saying his candidacy was deemed too expensive to pursue.
But the AIFF this weekend said the approaches were not 'genuine'.
'The AIFF received an email 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 email applications were not genuine,' the AIFF said in a statement.
Manchester City manager Guardiola's application was never reported earlier.
In May, Xavi told The Athletic that he follows the Indian Super League due to the number of Spanish coaches plying their trade there.
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He said: 'La Liga (I follow) the most. Then the Premier League. Not so much the French league, but sometimes I'll watch PSG or Marseille, especially Paris. Italy, I follow Como because I have a couple of friends there, Sergi Roberto and Cesc Fabregas.
'I have good friends in Saudi (Arabia) and Qatar, so I follow the leagues there. I watch a lot. I love football. I also follow Panama because my friend is there. And sometimes the Indian League because many Spanish coaches are there.'
Indian newspaper The Telegraph reported on July 26 that a 19-year-old student at Vellore Institute of Technology has claimed credit for the prank Xavi application but said he did not send the notice of interest for Guardiola.
He said he created a fake e-mail and asked ChatGPT to 'Write an e-mail by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian football team', which he eventually sent to the AIFF twice.
The AIFF sacked former India manger Igor Stimac in June 2024 before appointing Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who left the job in July and returned to his role as coach of Indian Super League team FC Goa after just one year and one win in eight games.
India's next opponents are Singapore in an Asian Cup qualifying double header in October.
The AIFF technical committee said it had reviewed 170 applications for the national coach role, narrowing the list to 10, before short-listing three candidates.
India are 133rd in the Fifa rankings – their lowest placing in nearly a decade – and have won just one of their last 16 matches. AFP, REUTERS
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