Vijender Singh spoke to our correspondent Rutvick Mehta about the ongoing controversy regarding Salman Khan's appointment as Goodwill Brand Ambassador of the Indian contingent in the Rio Games.
There has been a huge uproar among people on the appointment of Salman Khan as the goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and I really don't understand why. I am fully in favour of it.
The reach that Salman bhai has, I don't think anyone else in the country can match that level right now. He is 100 per cent perfect for the role of a goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics. I don't think all these sports will come forward by themselves, and so it needs the backing of someone like Salman. And, he is not taking a single penny for it. So why are people having a problem?
A goodwill ambassador isn't going cheer for the athletes from the stand. It's more about his reach to the masses. Look, when we watch the Olympics, we sit in our respective houses and support the guys. It's the same with Salman. He will cheer for the athletes in his own way from here. So that's a really good thing, and I'm hopeful that Salman bhai's name will make a big difference in getting the limelight in Olympic sports.
For those who say that a sportsperson should have have been given the honour of being the ambassador, I have just one simple question for them: what would he/she have done? People who are throwing around names of possible candidates, what difference would he/she have made? Firstly, I think he/she might have charged for it. And secondly, he/she could never have managed the reach that Salman bhai can.
This isn't about Salman bhai's upcoming movie Sultan or its promotion. Salman does a lot of movies every year, and he doesn't need Olympics for it. Like he himself said, he is doing it as a goodwill gesture. And I have no doubt that he is doing this for the better of Indian sports.
So all in all, I feel this is a really positive step for the future of sports in our country. I have no doubt that it will make a difference in terms of getting more people interested in Olympics sports.
--Vijender Singh bagged India's first ever Olympic medal in boxing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He spoke with Rutvick Mehta
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