Calcutta: The Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) will bear the medical expenses of Olympian Leslie Claudius, who has been hospitalised after being diagnosed with cirrhosis of liver.

“Our president Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti announced that all medical expenses, including hospital bills, of Claudius will be borne by the Association,” BHA treasurer Gopinath Ghosh said on Tuesday.

The BHA will also confer the Lifetime Achievement Award to the triple Olympic gold-medallist for his outstanding contribution to the game after the Beighton Cup final, on Sunday.

In the morning, Claudius had a special visitor in former teammate Keshav Dutt, the 87-year-old Olympian, who was accompanied by BHA secretary Gurbux Singh and Chakrabarti.

“He (Claudius) saw both of us but couldn’t recognise. He tried to utter something, though,” Gurbux added.