Fact check: Indian Football players played matches barefoot because they were not given shoes by the government?? NO
An old image showing barefooted Indian football players is going viral with a Telugu narration in the Telugu-speaking states. The social media users claimed that Football players were barefooted in the 1948 Olympics because they were not provided with shoes by the government and could not afford shoes on their own.
An old image showing barefooted Indian football players is going viral with a Telugu narration in the Telugu-speaking states. The social media users claimed that Football players were barefooted in the 1948 Olympics because they were not provided with shoes by the government and could not afford shoes on their own.
The narrative goes as 'ఈ చిత్రం వెనుక ఉన్న అసలు కథ తెలిస్తే... మనం జాతిపిత అనుకునే వారిపైన అసహ్యం వేయకమానదు... 1948లో లండన్‌లో జరిగిన ఒలింపిక్స్‌కు సంబంధించిన చిత్రమిది.
ఫ్రాన్స్‌తో జరిగిన మ్యాచ్‌ను మన ఫుట్‌బాల్ జట్టు 1-1తో సమం చేసింది. కానీ ఆ తర్వాత మ్యాచ్లను భారతదేశ ఆడలేదు ఎందుకంటే షూస్ లేని జట్లను డిస్క్ క్వాలిఫై చేశారు నిర్వాహక జట్టు...బూట్లు లేని కారణంగా మన ఆటగాళ్లు గెలవలేకపోయారు. ఆడిన ఒక్క మ్యాచ్ కూడా షూస్ లేకుండానే మన ఆటగాళ్లు ఆడారు
షూస్ ఉన్న ప్రత్యర్థి జట్ల తోటి మనవారు షూస్ లేకుండా ఆడటం వల్ల మ్యాచ్ జరుగుతున్నంత సేపు కూడా మనవారు ఎన్నో గాయాల పాలు అయ్యారట.. అయినా మ్యాచ్ సమంగా సాగింది. ఈ జట్టుకు శైలేంద్ర నాథ్ మన్నా కెప్టెన్‌గా వ్యవహరించాడు. అతను ప్రపంచంలోని అత్యుత్తమ ఆటగాళ్లలో ఒకడు. ప్రభుత్వం వద్ద అంత డబ్బు కూడా లేదా... ప్రభుత్వం బూట్లు ఎందుకు ఇవ్వలేదు. ఎందుకంటే వీళ్లకు పరికరాలు తేవలసిన సమయంలో ఆ విమానాన్ని నెహ్రూ గారి బట్టలు డ్రై క్లీనింగ్ చేసేదానికి ప్యారిస్ తీసుకువెళ్లారట... సాహబ్ తన కుక్కతో ప్రైవేట్ జెట్‌లో తిరిగేవాడు. 1950 ప్రపంచకప్‌లో షూస్ లేకుండా ఏ జట్టు కూడా మ్యాచ్ ఆడదు కాబట్టి ఫిఫా భారత్‌పై నిషేధం విధించింది. ఫిఫా ప్రపంచకప్‌కు భారత జట్టు మళ్లీ వెళ్లలేదు. కానీ నేడు దేశంలోని చాలా స్టేడియాలకు నెహ్రూ గాంధీ కుటుంబం పేరు పెట్టారు.'
When translated claims 'If we know the real story behind this image... we will be disgusted with those who we consider the father of the nation... It is a picture taken at the 1948 Olympics held in London.
Our football team tied the match against France 1-1. But after that India did not play the matches because the teams without shoes were disqualified. Our players played one match without shoes.
Due to the fact that the Indian team was playing barefooted while the rival teams had shoes on. Indian players playing without shoes suffered many injuries even during the match.. but the match went on evenly. Shailendra Nath Manna was the captain of this team. He is one of the best players in the world. Does the government not have that much money... why didn't the government give shoes? Because when the players needed equipment, the plane was taken to Paris for dry cleaning of Nehru's clothes... Sahab used to travel in a private jet with his dog. In the 1950 World Cup, FIFA banned India as no team could play a match without shoes. The Indian team never went to the FIFA World Cup again. But yet most of the stadiums in the country are named after Nehru Gandhi's family'
Archive links:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220824062006/https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=602851438097339
This claim has been viral in other languages like English and Hindi in India in 2019 and also in Telugu in 2021.
Fact check:
The claim that in 1948, Indian football players played matches barefoot because they were not provided shoes by the government is FALSE. The players played barefoot because they were not habituated to wearing shoes while playing football.
When we searched the image using Google reverse image search along with the keywords '1948 Olympics Indian football team', we found an article on Olympics.com which discusses the match between India and France. The article states that eight members of the team's starting eleven played barefooted.
It is also clear from the report published in Indian Express on August 1, 1948, that India lost to France with a score of 2-1. It also stated that 8 of the 11 players played barefoot in the match.
The Indian Express - Google News Archive Search
An article in the sportstar by The Hindu published in 2018, shows an image of the whole team, where some players can be seen wearing shoes, the article also states that 'being largely unused to playing in them, the players kept the boots supplied by the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) for occasions when the wet and slippery English conditions left them with no alternative but to wear them. '
We can see the same image shared by the Twitter handle of the Indian Football Team's official account.
When searched further, the stock image of the viral image can also be seen on Getty images where one of the Indian players can be seen wearing shoes.
The same image has been shared by FIFA.com on its Twitter account.
Therefore, the claim that the Indian Football players in 1948 were not provided with shoes is FALSE. The players played barefoot even though they had shoes with them because they were comfortable playing barefoot. It is not true that the government did not provide shoes to the players