You request for pension to the highest football body of the country and in response you get a grant of meagre Rs.25,000.
All the 9 surviving players out of the 18-member Indian football team, who helped India to reach through the semi-finals of the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne had decided to return their grant sent by the AIFF.
A couple of months back, the footballers from the golden-era had requested the AIFF to provide pension to the former footballers, very similar to the initiative taken by the highest cricket body of India, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). However, in return all the Olympians had received a cheque of Rs.25,000 as a grant from the AIFF Secretory, Alberto Colaco.
This action by AIFF has upset the veteran players, they are hurt by the use of the term "grant". The players feel that they have played for the nation and they do not require any kind of grant.
The surviving players who represented India at the 1956 Olympics at Melbourne are Samar (Bardu) Banerjee (Captain), Tulsidas Balaram, Nikhil Nandy, PK Banerjee, Krishna Chandra (Kesto) Pal, Ahmed Hussain, Shankar Narayan, Mohammad Zulfikaruddin, and Mohammad Abdus Salam.
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