VIT Vellore student sends ChatGPT generated Xavi Hernandez hoax job application mail to prank AIFF

VIT Vellore student sends ChatGPT generated Xavi Hernandez hoax job application mail to prank AIFF (AP Photo)

It has come to light that a 19-year-old student of VIT Vellore had actually sent a mail to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) impersonating Barcelona and Spain legend Xavi Hernandez seeking the role of head coach of the senior men's team. The development comes a day after the football body confirmed that the job application attributed to Xavi for the coaching role was a hoax.

The AIFF's national team director told The Times of India on Thursday that Xavi's name was on the list of applicants. The report also quoted an AIFF technical committee member saying the his candidacy was deemed too expensive to pursue.

"The AIFF received an email 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 email applications were not genuine," the football body said in a statement on Saturday.

Speaking to The Telegraph Online, the student said he had generated a fake email id with the name xaviofficialfcb@gmail.com. As mentioned in the report the application was generated through a ChatGpt prompt: "Write an email by Xavi Hernandez expressing his interest to coach the Indian national team."

As per the report, the mail was sent to AIFF twice - on July 4 and 5.

"I copy pasted the response and mailed it. I didn't attach a CV or anything but I think they saw the mail," the student was quoted as saying in the report.

Meanwhile, the AIFF Technical Committee said it had reviewed 170 applications for the Indian men's head coach role, narrowing the list to 10 before short-listing three candidates.

The AIFF sacked former India manger Igor Stimac in June last year before appointing Spaniard Manolo Marquez, who left the job this month and returned to his role as coach of Indian Super League (ISL) team FC Goa.

- with Reuters inputs