VIT Vellore student claims he sent prank e-mail to AIFF as Xavi Hernandez

A 19-year-old studying at VIT Vellore has claimed that he sent the mail impersonating to be Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) as a prank.

This development comes after the news of Spanish football icons Pep Guardiola and Xavi Hernández expressing interest in coaching the Indian men’s national football team spread like wildfire on social media last week.

The AIFF (All India Football Federation) confirmed the development without verifying its authenticity. The AIFF even claimed to have rejected the application owing to high financial implications.

The student was quoted as saying by The Telegraph Online that he created a fake email id, [email protected], and gave a prompt to ChatGPT: “Write an email by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian football team.”

He reportedly sent the email to the AIFF twice – on July 4 and 5.

“I copy pasted the [ChatGPT] response and mailed it. I didn’t attach a CV or anything but I think they saw the mail,” the student said.

The AIFF had on July 4 posted on social media: “WE ARE HIRING! Head Coach - Senior Men’s National Team.”

He shared screenshots of the email he purportedly sent to the AIFF. Later, screenshots of the fake email surfaced on social media.

According to AIFF’s initial claims, even “Pep Guardiola” had shown interest. The VIT student confirmed he did not send the Pep Guardiola email.

The AIFF later accepted that they could not confirm the authenticity of the applications.

“The AIFF received an e-mail 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 e-mail applications were not genuine,” the AIFF said in a statement on Saturday.

The Indian men’s football team is ranked 133 in the FIFA global rankings, and has been without a manager since July 2 after the departure of Manolo Marquez.