'We, the 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,' said Banerjee's letter.

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 internationals.

Banerjee went on to ask 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-general between February and July,reminding him about the pension scheme.