Why didn't India play in the 1950 FIFA World Cup? It's not because Indians could not afford shoes and were not allowed to play barefoot. So what was the actual reason?

India had qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but they dropped out at the last minute. India's World Cup qualification group consisted of Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and all three ended up withdrawing their names. As a result, India earned themselves a berth at the World Cup without having to play a single minute of qualifiers. However, just before the World Cup, AIFF released a statement saying India wouldn't be participating because they weren't well prepared.
 
This was quite a vague reason, which gave rise to plenty of speculation and theories. One of those theories was that the AIFF thought it best to focus on the 1952 Olympics. While this may seem bizarre today, at the time, the Olympics were far more prestigious than the FIFA World Cup, so in that context, that decision did make some sense.

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