XAVI Never Applied For India Football Coach Job, It Was A Student Impersonating Barca Legend: Report

The Indian football community was briefly stunned when reports surfaced that Spanish football legend Xavi Hernandez had applied for the position of Head Coach of the Indian men’s football team. However, that initial excitement quickly turned to tragedy after the All India Football Federation (AIFF) admitted it could not verify the authenticity of the application.

Now, a new twist has emerged. According to a report by The Telegraph, the email allegedly sent by Xavi was actually written and submitted by a 19-year-old college student. The student, who studies at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), a private university in Tamil Nadu, admitted to using ChatGPT to draft the message.

“I copy pasted the [ChatGPT] response and mailed it. I didn’t attach a CV or anything, but I think they saw the mail,” the student was quoted as saying.

On July 26, the AIFF issued a statement confirming that while they had received emails in the names of both Xavi Hernandez and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, they could not verify if the applications were authentic. The federation later clarified that the emails turned out to be fake. The blame is on AIFF team that instead of verifying the candidatures started beating drums around the same.

“Additionally, 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 statement read.

The process to select India’s new head coach remains ongoing, with Indian football currently facing uncertainty both at the club and international levels. The future of the Indian Super League is also unclear due to unresolved issues between AIFF and FSDL. The federation stated it has narrowed down the list of applicants to just three, and emphasized the importance of hiring someone who understands the nuances of Asian and Indian football.

“A key takeaway from the deliberations was the shared view that appointing a coach with a deep understanding of the Asian and Indian football ecosystem would be highly beneficial to the national team’s immediate and future success,” the AIFF added.

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