Indian Olympic Association on Saturday appointed film star Salman Khan as the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent to the Rio Olympics.
India’s star wrestler, Yogeshwar Dutt wasn’t pleased with the decision and took to twitter to express his dissent.
“What’s the purpose of an ambassador? Stop fooling the people of this country,” tweeted Dutt in reaction to the news.
Dutt had won a bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
In a series of tweets, he questioned the propriety of appointing a film star as the goodwill ambassador.
“There are sports stars such as PT Usha, Milkha Singh who have worked hard for the sports in the country during difficult times. What has this ambassador done,” he tweeted.
Coming down hard on Khan, Yogeshwar tweeted that Olympics is not a place for promoting movies.
Salman Khan is playing the role of a wrestler from Haryana in his upcoming movie, Sultan.
IOA, on the other hand, justified the Bollywood star’s appointment saying Salman hadn’t charged any money to promote India’s Olympic campaign and that millions of people follow what he says.
Salman Khan was convicted in a hit-and-run case that left one person dead and several others injured in 2002 in Mumbai in India.
