After Salman Khan IOA approaches Sachin Tendulkar, AR Rahman to be India's Olympics Goodwill Ambassador: Report

A week after furore over the appointment of Bollywood actor Salman Khan as the Goodwill Ambassador for India at the Rio Olympics, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday also approached cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar to join Salman – the ANI has tweeted.

It has also been learnt that musician AR Rahman and Olympic gold medal winning shooter Abhinav Bindra might also be on IOA’s list of Goodwill Ambassadors.

“We are in communication with Sachin Tendulkar and A R Rahman to become brand ambassadors of the Indian Olympic contingent. We are yet to get their reply," said Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice president Tarlochan Singh.

“We will rope in more people. Salman Khan will also remain," he added.

After IOA named Salman for the role, Olympic medal-winning wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and celebrated sprinter Milkha Singh expressed their displeasure at the appointment of somebody who wasn’t a sportsperson.

They were later joined by many other sportspersons who maintained that a sports personality should have been named. However, Salman garnered support from the likes Sourav Ganguly, Baichung Bhutia, Saina Nehwal and Sunil Gavaskar.

The IOA then clarified that Salman’s appointment did not involve any monetary aspect and was only done to cash in on his popularity so that more and more people support India’s Olympic campaign.

In a statement issued by IOA Secretary Rajeev Mehta, the association also said that it will soon appoint famous personalities from the cricket and music world in the capacity of a Goodwill Ambassador.

Writing to Sachin is a move in the same direction by the IOA.

Tendulkar has always batted for sportspersons in the country and his inclusion will surely boost the confidence of the athletes.

Yogeshwar Dutt who had criticised IOA for appointing Salman as Goodwill Ambassador shared his happiness over their decision to approach Sachin.

“भारतीय ओलम्पिक संघ(IOA) द्वारा भारत के महान खिलाड़ी @sachin_rt को भारतीय दल का GoodWill ambassador बनाए जाने का ससम्मान स्वागत हैं।जय हिंद," Yogeshwar tweeted.