Federer apologizes for sparking controversy over 'Men in Blue Nike moment'

17-time tennis Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has apologised for sparking controversy between Indian and Pakistani cricket fans during their World Cup tie at Adelaide after the Swiss maestro was pictured holding the blue shirt of defending champions India in a marketing photo-shoot.

On the eve of the high-voltage match between arch-rivals, Federer posted a picture on his Facebook page of him holding the blue shirt of defending champions India with the caption "Dressing up for a Gentleman's game today. #BleedBlue."

Clarifying his stand on the controversy, Federer said that it was more of a Nike thing to be quite honest, adding that everybody knows that he support South Africa, and the idea wasn't to spark any fire and he was sorry if it did that, Sport24 reported.

Federer further said that it was Nike campaign as he had met some of the Indian players and spent some time in India, so they presented the shirt to him.

The photograph has reportedly sparked a controversy among fans in Pakistan, with a fan claiming that he had deleted all his Federer photos and taken a brief opinion poll in which ten out of 12 Pakistanis apparently felt hurt or betrayed.

The Swiss maestro's mother Lynette is from South Africa and the Roger Federer Foundation has raised large sums to help disadvantaged children in the country.

India won the World Cup opener against arch-rivals Pakistan by 76 runs in Adelaide and thrashed South Africa by 130 runs in Melbourne on Sunday.