The AIFF’s national team director Subrata Paul told The Times of India on Friday that they had received an application from Xavi, although a member of the AIFF’s technical committee was quoted as saying it would not be financially viable to hire him.
In a statement released on Saturday, the AIFF clarified that neither Guardiola, 54, nor Xavi, 45, had applied for the position as manager of the India national team, rather they had been sent in under their names by pranksters.
The applications had initially come in via email but were soon thrown out after being 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.”