Subrata Paul

Calcutta: India players Subrata Paul and Surkumar Singh have refused to take awards from the All India Legal Aid Forum where President Pratibha Patil will be the chief guest in New Delhi on July 9.

The Forum had shortlisted Paul, Surkumar, along with India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia, Rennedy Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Dipak Mondal, Dipendu Biswas and Jayanta Sen for the awards and asked for their CVs as per the norms.

“Subrata told me he would never take any award as hardly anything is done for football. And Surkumar asked how much money he would get. Others, however, did not have any problems,” Trijit Das, a former East Bengal player, who acted as a liaison between the Forum and the players, said on Saturday.

Bhutia, Deepak, Rennedy and Nabi will not be present during the ceremony, as they will be busy with the preparatory camp in Barcelona, but Dipendu and Jayanta will be travelling to the capital.

“Awards for the players who cannot be present will be collected by someone from their respective families,” Das said.

Legal Aid Forum joint secretary Jaideep Mukherjee said it was the first time that sportspersons would be awarded by the association.

“We have plans to felicitate the veterans in the near future.”