Salman Khan Row: Won't Interfere, Says Sports Minister; Good Move, Says Gavaskar
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the Indian Olympic Association was an autonomous body and his ministry won't interfere in IOA's decision of making Bollywood star Salman Khan a goodwill ambassador for the 2016 Rio Games. Ex-Test batsman Sunil Gavaskar also welcomed the move
Highlights
-
Sports ministry won't interfere in Salman's naming as Goodwill Ambassador
-
This is first time a Bollywood star has been linked with Olympics squad.
-
Salman Khan's appointment has evoked a lot of criticism.
The sports ministry on Monday said it "will not interfere" in the Indian Olympic Association's decision to make Bollywood star Salman Khan India's goodwill ambassador for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Speaking to NDTV, former Test batsman Sunil Gavaskar also welcomed the moved to associate with a big film personality.
Gavaskar said the Indian Premier League got a massive boost due to Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla and thus, "there was nothing in appointing Salman Khan."
Former Bollywood star and BJP MP Hema Malini supported Salman's inclusion as a goodwill ambassador. She said Salman's "popularity" can;t be denied and that should be leveraged by the sports community.
Salman Khan as India's goodwill ambassador has evoked severe criticism from many quarters. The controversial Bollywood star's appointment was made with much fanfare on Saturday by the IOA.
"Indian Olympic Association is an elected autonomous body. The sports ministry doesn't interfere in its day-to-day functioning," sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.
The minister said he had "conveyed the sentiments of the player to IOA" but also hinted that he was in support of IOA associating with Salman Khan. This is the first time the IOA has involved a non-sports celebrity to become an ambassador of the Olympics contingent.
"Our ministry would like to encourage public figures from all walks of life to encourage sports in the country," Sonowal said.
The IOA is likely to name more celebrities in the coming days to add goodwill to India's campaign at Rio. Whether this will help India better the 2012 London Olympics tally of six medals will be interesting to see.
With inputs from Sandeep Phukan