Kolkata, Aug 4 - Hurt and humiliated at a meagre grant of Rs.25,000 to each of them, the nine surviving members of India's 1956 Melbourne Olympics football squad that finished fourth in the quadrennial extravaganza, have decided to return the cheques to the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

'We, nine Olympians of the 1956 team, are very much shocked. We regret the way you have sent cheques of Rs.25,000 as grant from your executive committee. We are returning the cheques to you,' Melbourne squad skipper Samar ('Badru') Banerjee said in a letter to AIFF secretary Alberto Colaco.

Banerjee said during a meeting with Colaco in Delhi in February, he had requested him to start a pension scheme for Olympians on the lines of the one introduced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for former national cricketers.

He had then asked Colaco, 'How do you expect that Olympians like us, who have crossed 70, will come before you and beg?'

Banerjee said he had made a number of phone calls to the AIFF secretary between February and July, reminding him about his proposal for a pension scheme.

'It's very unfortunate. I did not ask for any grant from you. We have played for the country with our heads held high. We can't accept anything which undermines our prestige and self-respect,' Banerjee told reporters at the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club here.

Tulsidas Balaram, another legendary player and Melbourne squad member, said: 'This cheque has hurt us.