In a move to seal support from all quarters in India, the Indian Olympic Association which had earlier brought in Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan, Shooter Abhinav Bindra and Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, brings in AR Rahman as the fourth goodwill ambassador of the Rio-bound Indian contingent.
Informing about the development in a press release, the Secretary General of IOA, Rajeev Mehta said, “I would like to welcome AR Rahman on board as a goodwill ambassador of Indian contingent for Rio Olympics. It’s our privilege to have the Oscar winning living legend-music composer on board to spread awareness and promote the Olympic movement.”
Further, he added,” As per our plan to reach out to maximum people in the country for Olympic Sports, we are happy that Mr. Rahman has come forward from the field of music to support our athletes and we already have Salman Khan from Bollywood, Abhinav Bindra from Olympic Sports and Sachin Tendulkar from Cricket.”
“I am sure Mr. Rahman will inspire our sportspersons”, he concluded.
This association was already in news after a declaration from IOA when they were facing a furor in the sporting world against appointment of Salman as the Goodwill Ambassador. The IOA had defined the categories as Salman Khan for Bollywood, Sachin Tendulkar for Cricket, Abhinav Bindra for Olympic Sports and now Oscar winning composer AR Rahman from the field of music. The Indian Olympic Association, today received confirmation from the Oscar winning music composer.
Speaking on his association with the Rio-bound Indian contingent, Mr. AR Rahman said, “It’s absolutely an honor and my pleasure to be a goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent scheduled for August 2016”.
The renowned composer was also associated with the 2010 version of Commonwealth Games which was hosted at New Delhi; he had composed the Commonwealth Games Anthem “Jiyo, Utho, Badho, Jeeto”