The first World Cup after
the Second World War was going to be held in Brazil. Many European countries were still in ruins
with governments feeling they should direct resources to more important things
than a football tournament. Many
countries were due to make their first appearance in a competition which had
only just received worldwide notoriety just before the War. In Asia, Philippines Indonesia and Burma all
withdrew leaving India to take part for the first time. India, having only just achieved independence
from Britain, had competed in the 1948 Olympic Football tournament in London
and had played in barefeet. FIFA had
subsequently banned the practice despite India only narrowly losing 1-2 to
France.
For many years the myth
had persisted India had withdrawn from the tournament on account of not being
allowed to play in bare feet, but on further investigation it appears there
were other more plausible reasons for their non-participation. Firstly, for Indian players the Olympics was
the pinnacle and most popular sporting competition in the world. At the time the World Cup was still in its
infancy, perfectly illustrated by the fact 1950 would be the first time England
had taken part. The AIFF (Indian FA)
gave their own reasons at the time as concerns over travel costs to get to
Brazil. To counter this there were
suggestions the organising committee would pay some of the costs.
Speaking to the Los
Angeles Times in 2011, Sailen Manna, who would’ve been captain of the Indian
team, said;
“We had no idea about the
World Cup then. Had we been better
informed, we would have taken the initiative ourselves. For us, the Olympics was everything. There was nothing bigger”
Looking back on the
decision not to take part probably held Indian football back for years, but
then they weren’t the only nation to underestimate what the World Cup could
become. After all, they were only in a
position to take part as a result of other nations withdrawing.
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