After Salman row, IOA also ropes in Bindra as goodwill ambassador

Star shooter Abhinav Bindra on Monday agreed to become the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics along with Bollywood star Salman Khan.

With Salman's appointment as the Indian contingent's goodwill ambassador last Sunday creating a lot of controversy, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) decided to approach Bindra, Sachin Tendulkar and celebrated Oscar-winning music composer A.R. Rahman with a similar offer.

In a series of posts on his official Twitter handle, Bindra informed that he has accepted the IOA's offer.

"Received a letter this afternoon from the President and Secretary General of the IOA inviting me to be a goodwill ambassador," Bindra tweeted on Friday.

"I am humbled that they thought I am worthy enough for this honour. I respectfully accept this with gratitude," he added.

Bindra, who became the first Indian to clinch an individual Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games in 2008, also announced that he will write to all Indian sportspeople who have qualified for the Olympics in order to motivate them and offer any assistance if needed.

"I have lived my life for the OG & have always done my best to work for the betterment of the Olympic movement in India & I will continue. 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," the 33-year-old stated.

"Every Indian Olympian is a champion in his or her own right I would just be sharing my experiences with them! I would be open to doing this until the 15th of July & after that my focus will completely be towards my own performance until my event," Bindra added.

"Request every Indian citizen to whole heartedly support the INDIAN OLYMPIC TEAM #rio2016 #Indianolympicteam #indianolympiansarechampions."

--IANS

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