[5] The federation was mainly governed by Englishmen and served as the most powerful football body in the country during the early 20th century.

[4] After differences of opinion and other conflicts were resolved, a meeting was conducted in March 1937 which would serve to be the beginning of the start of the AIFF.

[4] The AIFF was officially founded on 23 June 1937 after representatives from the nine regional football associations met at the Army Headquarters in Shimla.

[7] Other reasons given for India's withdrawal included that the AIFF valued the Summer Olympics more than FIFA World Cup at that time and that the players playing mainly barefooted,[7] though the later is just a tale.

This defeat made the AIFF make it mandatory for players on the national team to wear football boots.

The deal would make Zee broadcast the National Football League, later the I-League, and other tournaments organised by the AIFF and selected India's international matches.

[13] However, in October 2010, the deal between the AIFF and Zee Sports was terminated after differences between both parties related to payment and marketing of football in India.

[14] On 9 December 2010, it was announced that the AIFF had signed a new 15-year, ₹700 crore deal with Reliance Industries and the International Management Group.

[17] As a result, India was temporarily excluded from next AFC Asia Cup edition until the suspension got lifted before the tournament began.

In response to the ban, AIFF agreed to hold an election on 2 September to restore India's participation in FIFA once it got a new administration.

He was removed from the position by Supreme Court of India in May 2022 and a three members' committee was appointed to run AIFF.

India was stripped off its hosting rights for international football tournaments, including the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup scheduled for October 2022.

A common myth is that India withdrew and didn't participate because FIFA did not allow Indians to play football barefoot.

According to author and sports journalist Jaydeep Basu, this is completely wrong and India did not participate because AIFF did not believe that its then players had the calibre to compete against the top teams of the world.