AIFF Denies Legitimacy of Coaching Applications
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has publicly declared that recent applications for the head coach position of the national football team, reportedly submitted under the names of renowned coaches Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernández, are not legitimate. In an interview with The Times of India, the AIFF’s national team director revealed that Xavi’s name appeared among the applicants, but a member of the technical committee indicated that pursuing his candidacy would be prohibitively expensive.
Search for New Head Coach
Over the course of their search, the AIFF reviewed 170 applications and ultimately narrowed down the pool to just three finalists. Importantly, the claims that Guardiola and Xavi had applied for the role were dismissed outright as fraudulent.
Investigation Findings
In a statement issued on Saturday, the AIFF elaborated that they had received an email that included the applications claiming to be from the Spanish coaches. However, upon further investigation, the federation concluded that these submissions lacked authenticity.
Context of the Coaching Search
This situation comes in the wake of the AIFF parting ways with former manager Igor Stimac last June, after which they brought in Spanish coach Manolo Marquez. Marquez has since left his position and returned to coaching his previous team, FC Goa, in the Indian Super League. The current search for a new head coach has now taken a curious twist with the emergence of these dubious applications.
