Salman Explains Why India Needs A Goodwill Ambassador At Rio Olympics & More In This Interview

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Salman Khan's recent appointment as the goodwill ambassador for Indian contingent at Rio Olympis 2016 has stirred up quite a storm. While sportsmen like Dhanraj Pillay and Milkha Singh criticised this move, Salman's dad Salim Khan, came to his son's rescue recently. He took to twitter to justify Salman's appointment, stating that he too is great at sports like cycling and swimming.?

But in an interview to TOI, Salman Khan has explained why the Indian contingent needs an ambassador and what all he plans to bring to the table.

AP

On why he thinks the Indian contingent needs an ambassador.

"The Olympics are not that well covered and watched in India like in other countries. So, when somebody comes to support the players, it makes them feel good and work harder. They become more inspired and dedicated. Having someone like me helps in creating a buzz about the Olympics."

While so many actors own teams in different sporting leagues, why he has still maintained a distance.

"Yeah, that (buying a football team) never happened, simply because I don't want to be a part of any one team. If I can, I'd like to join the mother body. I don't see myself fighting with Delhi, Pune or KKR. So, when it becomes Salman's team versus Preity's team or Shah Rukh's team, it no longer remains a sporting thing, it gets into the area of gossip. Also, the 'responsible press' will take away focus from the match, and I don't want to give anybody that kind of mileage. I want to do something for the overall development of sports."

On his 'duties' as Goodwill Ambassador.

"I want to charge up the players and see how they are progressing. If we can increase our medal tally compared to last year, it would be great. When that happens, the infrastructure, diet, coaching and other facilities get better. Pehle (ambassador) nahi lekar aaye thay toh theek hai, par ab jab kisi ko lekar aaye hain toh the players should be encouraged. Since I can only participate in the Olympics if walking were a sport, isiliye main woh hoon jo gaadi ko piche se dhakka de sakta hai. I will also try to go to Rio in the initial phase of the Olympics."

On if we need a Bollywood celeb to bring glamour to sports apart from cricket.

"Everyone's watching cricket, and it has lots of stars. We need to make stars in other sports. Today, people watch tennis because of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza. Similarly, Saina Nehwal and Dipika Pallikal are stars in their own right. Football will take over very soon because the next generation is hooked to football. Our fault is that we blame cricket, while we need to watch more sports on TV compared to the rubbish we watch on TV. Once we do that, TRPs will go up, and players will get endorsements and they will become stars. While flipping through channels, stop at a badminton match, and try to know who is playing. You want hockey to return to its old glory, watch a game - be it in the stadium or on TV. We (Bollywood celebs) just give that initial impetus."

On his ?involvement with sports considering he has been a fitness icon.

"I played every kind of sport when I was growing up. My only problem was that when I used to get good at it, I'd stop and look for something new. So, I'm basically a jack of all sports, master of none. If you ask me to do swimming, I can. I can play anything from football and hockey to cricket. But it will take me some time to play better than what I used to, because all that was a long time back. I did all that stuff at the school level. My target was - never one sport. So, I was just about average in every sport."