by 
A sensational claim recently surfaced that Barcelona and Spain legend Xavi Hernandez had applied for the head coach position of the Indian national football team, only for his application to be rejected by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) due to the high costs involved. The news sparked a frenzy not only in Indian football but also across the global football community. However, it has now been revealed that the AIFF received a fraudulent email, and Xavi never applied for the role.
Earlier, Subrata Pal, Football Director of the Indian team, told *The Times of India* that Xavi’s name was among the applicants, with the application sent via email to the AIFF. The report also claimed that Xavi had applied using his personal email ID. However, unlike other shortlisted applications, the contact number field in his application was blank. A member of the AIFF’s Technical Committee later remarked, “Xavi had expressed interest. We might have been able to convince him, but the cost of bringing him as the national team coach would have been prohibitive.”
Meanwhile, football fans outside India have begun speculating that the AIFF may have used Xavi’s name to boost its own reputation. Regardless of the truth, the incident has sparked widespread criticism and put the federation’s officials in an embarrassing position.
