AIFF left in disbelief as Xavi applies for the position of the Indian men's football team head coach
- Mayank Srivastava
- Jul 25
- 2 min read
The All India Football Federation was left in a sense of disbelief when it saw former Barcelona captain and manager Xavi Hernandez's application for the position of the head coach of the Indian men's football team.
As reported by The Times of India, the top-level AIFF officials "rubbed their eyes" when they came across the legendary midfielder's name, marked in green, in the list of all the shortlisted candidates for the position. Xavi had sent the application from his own email ID as well.
The news spread like a wildfire as soon as it hit the internet, with the lovers of Indian football left in awe and amazement, while also seeing this as a perfect opportunity to revive the game in the country and attract more viewership and interest.
In what appears to be the darkest hour of Indian football, amidst the major uncertainty surrounding the conduction of the next edition of the Indian Super League, along with AIFF's continuous search for a new men's national team head coach, it is something that has still managed to create a great deal of buzz and excitement amongst the fans.
However, to the fans' disappointment and outrage, the AIFF has decided to go against the idea of selecting the Spanish manager for the list of the final shortlisted candidates and hence, rejecting his application.
Why did AIFF reject Xavi's "golden" application?
Xavi's managerial experience, topped up with his incredible knowledge of the game and his expertise in squad building, is exactly the kind of head coach the Indian team needs at the moment, who are currently struggling like never before and are in dire need of a rebuild.
With the management's struggles to scout and find new talents for the national team to replace the ageing legends such as the iconic Sunil Chettri, who was forced to come out of retirement after the NT's failure to find a replacement for him, the AIFF could have really reaped well by hiring a man with a golden eye for talent like Xavi.
However, the Federation decided to go against this golden prospect due to major financial constraints, which are quite evident. With Indian football currently facing a major crisis, Xavi's "huge" salary demands do appear to be way out of reach.
While the AIFF are reported to acknowledge that the Spaniard's arrival could have completely changed the fate of Indian football, his hiring seemed more like a fantasy and never realistic from a financial standpoint.
The reason was indirectly confirmed by a member from the technical committee of the AIFF, who stated, "Even if Xavi was genuinely interested in Indian football and could be convinced to take up the job, we would need a lot of money." (sic)
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