In 1956 summer Olympics which were hosted by Australia, Indian football team qualified for the semi-finals along with Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and USSR (eventual winners). India defeated Australia in the quaterfinals booked the spot for semis. They were one win away from earning a medal when they lost the bronze medal match against Bulgaria 3-0. This probably is the best performance by Indian football team till date. Neville D'Souza scored a hatrick against Australia in quaterfinals to become the first Asian footballer to score a hat trick in Olympics, he was also the top scorer of the tournament.
Almost 75 years now, very few remember this great achievement by an Indian football team. And this year All Indian Football Federation (AIFF) decided to go a step further (rather backward). They decided to humiliate the forgotten heroes by paying them petite amount of Rs. 25,000/- (approx 500 USD). And when the heroes tried reaching the AIFF offices / secrateries etc no one bothered to take the call.
Tired of this ghastly attitude, the Melbourne squad skipper Samar Banerjee and other 8 surviving members decided to return the chequest to AIFF. You can read the full story on following link:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/humiliated-indian-soccer-heroes-return-cheques/98599-5.html
Well. What a day it was for sports in India. Somdev Burman wins a match against world number 15 and Haryana state imposes additional tax on Golf (they consider it as entertainment and not sport). God bless old aged bureaucrat and thankless politicians.
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