Xavi’s application for Indian football team’s coach turns out to be a prank by VIT Vellore student
Image: Facebook @Fabrizio RomanoIn a prank that sent the sports world into a frenzy, social media erupted after news broke that Xavi Hernandez, the Spanish football manager, had allegedly applied for the position of head coach of India’s senior men’s national team.It all began on July 4, when the All India Football Federation (AIFF) posted on social media: “WE ARE HIRING! Head Coach - Senior Men’s National Team.”Shortly after the job posting, a national daily reported that Barcelona legend Xavi had shown interest in the role.The sports world went haywire, and the story quickly became international news.Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who has millions of followers on YouTube, also posted on Facebook this week: “Revealed: Xavi had applied for the job of head coach of the Indian National Team. The Federation turned down the opportunity as they couldn’t afford the financial terms of the deal. It was beyond their reach, reports Marcus Mergulhao.”The post went viral, and the internet quickly responded with memes. One user even commented, “Won’t be a bad idea. He actually looks like Shah Rukh Khan.” But — it was a prank!An Indian journalist later posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Xavi had not applied for any job at AIFF. In fact, it was a 19-year-old student from VIT Vellore who sent a fake email to AIFF under Xavi’s name.The student, who spoke to The Telegraph Online, revealed that he had created a fake email ID xaviofficialfcb@gmail.com and used ChatGPT to generate an email. The prompt he gave was: “Write an email by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian football team.”An official AIFF statement on Saturday confirmed, “The AIFF received an e-mail furnishing 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 e-mail applications were not genuine.”
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| Image: Facebook @Fabrizio Romano |
In a prank that sent the sports world into a frenzy, social media erupted after news broke that Xavi Hernandez, the Spanish football manager, had allegedly applied for the position of head coach of India’s senior men’s national team.
It all began on July 4, when the All India Football Federation (AIFF) posted on social media: “WE ARE HIRING! Head Coach - Senior Men’s National Team.”
Shortly after the job posting, a national daily reported that Barcelona legend Xavi had shown interest in the role.
The sports world went haywire, and the story quickly became international news.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, who has millions of followers on YouTube, also posted on Facebook this week: “Revealed: Xavi had applied for the job of head coach of the Indian National Team. The Federation turned down the opportunity as they couldn’t afford the financial terms of the deal. It was beyond their reach, reports Marcus Mergulhao.”
The post went viral, and the internet quickly responded with memes. One user even commented, “Won’t be a bad idea. He actually looks like Shah Rukh Khan.”
But — it was a prank!
An Indian journalist later posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Xavi had not applied for any job at AIFF. In fact, it was a 19-year-old student from VIT Vellore who sent a fake email to AIFF under Xavi’s name.
The student, who spoke to The Telegraph Online, revealed that he had created a fake email ID xaviofficialfcb@gmail.com and used ChatGPT to generate an email. The prompt he gave was: “Write an email by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian football team.”
An official AIFF statement on Saturday confirmed, “The AIFF received an e-mail furnishing 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 e-mail applications were not genuine.”
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