Another myth.
India qualified for the 1950 World Cup by default, as all the other Asian countries withdrew. They were drawn to play Italy, Paraguay and Sweden in the group stage, but then withdrew. The reasons given by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for their withdrawal included travel costs (even though FIFA had agreed to bear a major part of these), lack of practice time, and team selection issues; but they said nothing about not being allowed to play barefoot. The AIFF also chose to prioritise the 1952 Olympics over the FIFA World Cup. They played barefoot at the Olympics – and lost 10–1 to Yugoslavia.
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