With the World Cup in progress, football fever is affecting everyone nationwide!
The game's rules and regulations are governed by FIFA, which has evolved over time. However, Indonesia and Burma (now Myanmar) had inthe past played international football events barefoot.
But is it true that India withdrew from playing in a FIFA World Cup tournament because its players were not allowed to play barefoot?
Verdict
FALSE
Yes, India actually qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 1950. The country was in the same Asian qualifying group with Burma (now Myanmar), Indonesia and the Philippines. However all the other teams withdrew without playing a single match, and India qualified by default for the 1950 tournament in Brazil.
However, they too subsequently withdrew from playing in the tournament - but not because there were banned from playing barefoot.
A bit of history - just a couple of years back, the Indian football team pushed heavyweights France to the brink at the London 1948 Olympics before conceding late to go down 2-1. Several players in that team played without boots and had their feet heavily taped
To further debunk this myth, FIFA had no rules mandating football boots till 1953. Interestingly enough, India had played barefoot at the Helsinki 1952 Olympics without any objections.
But it was not boots (or lack of) but India's priorities and financial constraints which kept the country from making a historical FIFA World Cup appearance.
The financial challenge of reaching Brazil was enormous – particularly for Asian nations still grappling with the economic aftershocks of World War II.
For India, financing and organising a voyage halfway across the world for a football tournament was an overwhelming prospect for a fledgling All India Football Federation (AIFF).
The Brazilian federation and FIFA had pledged their support and state federations promised financial aid.
Unfortunately, after months of meetings, the AIFF finally pulled the plug after a meeting in Kolkata on May 23 – less than a month before the team was supposed to travel to Brazil.
AIFF stated: "India will not participate in the World Cup or the Jules Rimet Cup. Due to late information reaching India, the team will have to be flown to Rio resulting in cancellation of team selection. Since there is not much time, the Indian team will not be able to prepare and hence it will not be correct to send the team."
With India's withdrawal, the 1950 World Cup featured no Asian representatives at all.
Another reason for barefoot myth was what was published by the British media when India lost to France in the same game.
The then-Indian captain Talimeren Ao was quoted in the media saying, "We play football in India, whereas you play bootball."
So while you continue to enjoy this year's World Cup, you can share this piece of trivia to other football fans out there.
Source:
https://www.olympics.com/en/news/india-football-fifa-world-cup-qualify-history
https://thebridge.in/football/india-1950-fifa-world-cup-barefoot-myth-37804
