Pep Guardiola and Xavi hoax! Indian Football Federation confirm pranksters applied for national team job claiming to be Man City boss and former Barcelona midfielder

The development was first brought to light by Subrata Paul, the AIFF’s director for the national team, during an interview with The Times of India on Friday. Paul acknowledged that a submission had been received under Xavi’s name, though a member of the AIFF’s technical committee reportedly dismissed the possibility of hiring him, citing cost concerns.

In a statement released on Saturday, the AIFF clarified that neither of the Spanish coaching giants had submitted genuine applications for the position. The applications had initially arrived via email and were soon identified as inauthentic following a verification process.

The statement read: "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.”

India has been without a permanent head coach since early July, when Spanish tactician Manolo Marquez mutually agreed to part ways with the federation. He has since returned to Indian Super League side FC Goa, where he previously enjoyed success.

In a separate report, it has been claimed that a 19-year-old created a fake email ID named ‘xaviofficialfcb@gmail.com’ and sent in the application.

Despite the initial confusion caused by the bogus applications, the AIFF have made significant progress in their recruitment process. The governing body revealed that they received a total of 170 applications for the vacant head coach role and have since trimmed the list down to three final contenders: Khalid Jamil, Stephen Constantine, and Stefan Tarkovic.

With the clock ticking, the AIFF must make an appointment soon. The Blue Tigers will be back in action on October 9 when they face Singapore in an Asian Cup qualifier.