Xavi's India Coach Application? 19-Year-Old Alleges It Was a Prank
In pic: Xavi Hernandez (PC: Xavi social media) In yet another bizarre twist in Indian football, following reports that Spanish legend Xavi Hernández had, out of the blue, applied for the role of Head Coach of the Indian senior men’s team to replace Manolo Marquez, a 19-year-old boy has now come forward claiming it was he, and not Xavi, who sent the email to the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The teenager, going by the name of Akhil, shared screenshots and a screen recording of the email allegedly sent from his account on 5th July 2025 at 3:42 p.m., a day after the AIFF had issued an open letter inviting applications for the much-discussed position. “I wanted to see what would happen. I hoped that seeing Xavi’s application, the AIFF might actually consider him. I did this hoping it would somehow help Indian football move forward,” he wrote in a chat with this correspondent. If his claim is true, it raises serious questions about the decision-making capabilities of the peopl...