The All India Football Federation (AIFF) have confirmed that two high-profile coaching applications, allegedly sent by former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez and current Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, were fraudulent. The revelation comes as the federation continue their search for a new head coach for the Indian men’s national football team.

AIFF looking for a managerCame across fake applications of Xavi & Guardiola Has shortlisted three names from a list of 170Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The development was first brought to light by Subrata Paul, the AIFF’s director for the national team, during an interview with 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.

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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.”

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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.

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In a separate report, it has been claimed that a 19-year-old created a fake email ID named ‘[email protected]’ and sent in the application.