Just when the controversy over Salman Khan’s appointment as India’s Olympic Goodwill Ambassador threatened to spiral out of control, the Indian Olympic Association came up with a masterstroke involving the master-blaster. It has appointed cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar and India’s only Olympic gold medal winning shooter, Abhinav Bindra, as goodwill ambassadors too.
.@sachin_rt chosen goodwill ambassador at Rio @Olympics. @BeingSalmanKhan, @Abhinav_Bindra‘s names announced earlier pic.twitter.com/OzQWmOzkFB
— NDTV (@ndtv) May 3, 2016
Bindra confirmed the news about the appointment on Twitter :
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
The shooter in a series of tweets also said that he would support the Olympic mission but also said he would need to stop his duties early to compete in Rio.
Received a letter this afternoon from the President and Secretary General of the IOA inviting me to be a goodwill ambassador. CONT.
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
I am humbled that they thought I am worthy enough for this honour. I respectfully accept this with gratitude. CONT .
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
While my focus will be to perform at Rio,I will be writing to every member of the Indian Olympic team &offering them any help they may want
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
Every Indian Olympian is a champion in his or her own right I would just be sharing my experiences with them! CONT
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
I would be open to doing this until the 15 th of July &after that my focus will completely be towards my own performance until my event CONT
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
And he began his duties on the first day itself:
Request every Indian citizen to whole heartedly support the INDIAN OLYMPIC TEAM #rio2016 #Indianolympicteam #indianolympiansarechampions
— Abhinav Bindra (@Abhinav_Bindra) April 29, 2016
But he needn’t worry. After the controversy sparked by the appointment of Khan as a goodwill ambassador, there were reports that the association could seek other goodwill ambassadors. Alongside Sachin, musician AR Rahman was also among the names doing the rounds.