There are have been discussing and concerns about Indian football at the global stage. Currently India is ranked some #162 according to FIFA but was it always the case. Was there a time where the quality of football in India was such that it commended respect at the international stage? Let’s go down memory lane and see where India stood post-independence.
FIFA World Cup 1950
AIFF (All India Football Federation) has been affiliated with FIFA since 1948. The 1950 FIFA World Cup was held in Brazil and India was the only team to qualify from Asia. India actually qualified by default because of the withdrawal of all their scheduled opponents (Philippines, Burma and Indonesia).
The other teams in the competition were (North & Central America – Mexico, USA; Europe – England, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia; South America – Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay).
After having qualified for the 1950 World Cup, the Indian team withdrew from the tournament and there have been many theories floating around on India’s withdrawal ranging from FIFA’s rule to financing issues.
Popular Theories on why India pulled out of the 1950 World Cup
Some of the more popular ones are that
- FIFA didn’t allow India team players to play barefoot
There was a ruling by FIFA that all football players should be properly equipped with football shoes and cleats while playing.
- Citing lack of funds for the long distance travel to Brazil
There were theories that lack of financial ability to buy shoes, jerseys and long distance travel
Both the above theories have some merit (India did play in the 1948 Olympics with the players either playing barefoot or with socks). Travel between India to Brazil was also not easy as it had a lot of logistics issues and funds was also an issue (though the organizing committee did assure of pitching in for a part of the funds). But both of the above mentioned theories doesn’t warrant India pulling out of the World Cup.
More Plausible Explanation
There has been another plausible reason as suggested by the then Indian captain, Shailen Manna and according to him it was AIFF’s decision to not pursue the World Cup as they had failed to ascertain the importance of this global event. Funds was not so much of a problem rather than the inability of AIFF to pursue to participate in this event and the focus then was more on Olympics.
The lack of foresight of this decision would possibly impact the future of India Football and since then India has never come close to qualifying for the World Cup.
“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.” – Shailen Manna (Captain of the 1950 Indian Football Team) as told to Sports Illustrated.
India at the Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics at London was the first time India was performing as an independent nation in an international competition. India lost to France (2-1) in their qualifying match but the match was tied till the best part of the second half with the Indian team playing barefoot and some players playing with just socks on. The performance of the Indian team in this Olympics raised quite a lot of eyebrows and grabbed attention of the international audience – both because of the skills and the manner in which the Indian team showed their grit.
In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics India had their best finish by qualifying for the Semi-finals and finished 4th in the football tournament. Till date, India’s football performance in the Olympics is the best performance by an Asian team at the Olympics. India played again in 1960 Olympics held at Rome, but failed to make a great impact losing to Peru and Hungary. The saving grace was a well fought match against France which India ended in a 1-1 draw.
Conclusion
India’s performance during the 1950’s to 1960’ is sometimes referred to the as ‘Golden Era’ of Indian Football and understandably so as India has never come close to any international completion such as the World Cup or Olympics after 1960’s.
Sometimes it makes you wonder whether AIFF and India had shown interest in the World Cup, maybe things would have changed drastically and would have impacted football in India to a greater extent. The 1950 World Cup is still considered as a golden lost opportunity for Indian Football.