Though the episode of Bollywood Actor John Abraham attending a pre-match programme ahead of the Football World cup is a few days old now, the controversy surrounding it refuses to die. 

John who is a Bollywood star was heavily criticized on social media and by the gossip mongers for attending the sports centric programme. He was slammed with accusations that he was there to promote his forthcoming films at the sports event. The detractors even slammed him for taking the due attention away from the game. 

John turned a deaf ear towards all the criticism as he claimed that he didn't want to give unnecessary attention to the gossip. But as it surpassed his patience limit, he finally decided to speak up and shut the gossip mongers once and for all. 

"For the first time Indians saw an actor commenting on football on such an important show. It was a new concept for them so the reactions were obviously mixed. But to be honest I was there as a football enthusiast and not as an actor," said John. 

He further stated in clear words that his idea was to support the game and not promote films. 

"Unless someone is living under a rock, they know that I am a football enthusiast and I wasn't there to promote a film but the sport," he said. 

He confirmed that though he got brickbats, he also got a lot of praises from the film fraternity on standing up for a sport. 

John also revealed that he is not only promoting the sport, but also doing his bit for its development in India. His co-owned club the Shillong Lajong FC is working hard to train kids aged 9-20 to raise the standards of domestic clubs.