Rio 2016: 'Defective thinking' opposition doesn't want to support Indian athletes, says Anil Vij

By Vivek Prabhakar Singh Rio de Janerio, Aug 16 (ANI): Haryana sports minister Anil Vij, who is in Rio to support the Indian athletes participating in the Summer Olympics 2016, has hit back at the opposition, saying those criticising his visit were having 'defective thinking.' "People who are criticising my Rio trip have defective thinking. They have started a hate campaign against our country. On every occasion, they want to criticise and not support the athletes," Vij told ANI here. Announcing a cash reward of Rs. six crores for the gold medal-winning athletes, Vij said, "We have come here to stand by our players who are fighting for India and see what problems they are facing and how we can further improve their performance. We are doing a lot for our Haryana players. This year we've given Rs. 100 crores as prize money to the players. We want to stand by our players in every stage." The Congress Party had earlier said the Haryana Sport Minister's visit to Brazil to attend the 2016 Rio Olympics post the controversy surrounding Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel will add 'insult to injury'. Vij's nine-member delegation includes his private secretary, two BJP MLAs, a media adviser to the chief minister, the additional chief secretary (sports), K.K. Khandelwal, his private secretary, and the joint director for sports, OP Sharma. (ANI)