Mumbai: The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Olympic Studies Centre has officially confirmed that legendary Indian footballer Neville D'Souza was the first Asian footballer to score a hat-trick in Olympic football, lending fresh support to efforts to preserve the Sir Neville D'Souza Football Ground at Bandra Reclamation.

The confirmation came in an email dated July 16 from Diego Girod, Research Coordinator at the Olympic Studies Centre, in response to a query by Vinod Roshan D'Souza, a Bandra resident and a campaigner in the fight to save the ground. The Centre stated that the achievement is documented in the official report of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, available through the Olympic World Library.

Earlier, the IOC's support team had directed Dr D'Souza to the Olympic Studies Centre after he sought verification of Neville D'Souza's feat during the 1956 Olympics.

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Neville D'Souza etched his name in Indian sporting history on December 1, 1956, when he scored all three goals in India's 4-2 victory over hosts Australia in the quarter-finals of the Melbourne Olympics. The performance made him the first Asian footballer to score an Olympic hat-trick, a record that remains unmatched by any other Indian footballer.

The 1956 Olympics also marked India's finest performance in Olympic football. Coached by the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim, the Indian team reached the semi-finals before finishing fourth overall, the country's best-ever result in the competition. D'Souza scored four goals in three matches, including India's lone goal in the semi-final against Yugoslavia, and finished as the tournament's joint highest scorer.

D'Souza said the IOC's confirmation reinforces the importance of preserving the football ground named after the sporting icon at Bandra Reclamation. He added that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar has forwarded his representation seeking protection of the ground to the concerned department.

The Mumbai Football Association began organising U-17 Neville D'Souza Trophy for teenagers from seventeen districts in Maharashtra, which is named after him.In 2018, Neville D'Souza Football Turf (also known as 'Neville D'Souza Ground')was installed within the sports complex in Bandra West, which is named after him.