Minister call Muhammad Ali a ’Kerala sportsman’

Minister call Muhammad Ali a ’Kerala sportsman’

Mangalore Today News Network

Kerala, June 06, 2016: A day after he was trolled in the social media for describing legendary boxer Muhammad Ali as a Keralite on a TV channel, Sports Minister E P Jayarajan Sunday admitted his mistake.

 

In a Facebook post, he said the person who called him from the TV channel told him that “our Muhammad Ali has died in America” and that he should give a condolence message.

“At that time, I was not aware that the boxing champion of yesteryear had passed away,” Jayarajan said.

“I wasn’t aware that the channel wanted my reaction on the death of Muhammad Ali, the boxing champion and a US citizen… I thought it was some veteran sportsperson of Kerala who had passed away,” he said.

In an embarrassing blunder earlier, Jayarajan had offered tributes to boxing legend Muhammad Ali as “a great personality in the Kerala’s sports world”.

The CPM Central Committee member’s homage to the greatest boxer of all time has gone viral on social media.

“Just now, I have heard the news that Muhammad Ali died in America. He was a great personality in Kerala’s sports world. Winning gold medals, he took the fame of Kerala to the world and to the skies. I am expressing Kerala’s grief in his death,” Jayarajan, who is also the state industries minister, said on live TV.

Jayarajan had been general manager of CPM daily Deshabhimani until recently. He won in the recent polls from Mattannur constituency with a margin of 42,000 votes, the second highest margin in this election.