INDIA

I.I.F.A. Foundation Celebrity Football Match
International Indian Film Academy organised a celebrity match with stars from Bollywood and the world of sports
May 21, 2004 at Jalan Bashar Stadium, Singapore

Report by indianfootball.com's Rohit Goyal:

At the time, when the whole of India was focused on the new prime minister designated Manmohan Singh, Bollywood was eyeing another shore i.e. Singapore. This year the IIFA awards were held in Singapore. It seems the whole of Bollywood - Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan - are in town for the three-day Singapore IIFA weekend extravaganza, which kicked off at the hotel with a star-studded press conference. Grand Hyatt, Singapore was unusually crowded with fans and press reporters waiting for the glimpse of stars.

However there was more than the aura and color of Bollywood in Singapore. Bollywood stars led by Sanjay Dutt and Anil Kapoor were involved in a football match for the IIFA. Sports Event held at Jalan Bashar Stadium, Singapore. The match involved stars such as Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Rahul Khanna, Zayed Khan, Fardeen Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Ajay Devgun and Australian cricketers Brett Lee and Shane Lee along with local football legend Fanadi Ahmed. Around 4,000 fans turned up to see the Bollywood stars trade the red carpet for the football pitch although some of them were more keen on clowning around than playing. And many of the stars playing the game agreed to the fact that football was not their kind of game. However some of them say that they manage to keep track of English Premier League from time to time.

And this was one match where the goals were not all that important. The fans just wanted to see their stars on the pitch and the stars wanted to have some fun on the pitch. Amitabh Bachan, Indian Actor, said: "It's really the cause that is important. It's really important to see the entire film industry out here playing for a noble cause." Proceeds from the sale of tickets will go towards supporting the back end staff of the Indian film industry. But it was not all fun and games, the celebrities were kicking the ball for a good cause and the two Australians seemed to be enjoying themselves. Brett Lee, known more to send down deadly Yorkers at batsmen was fancying himself with the football. However Saif Ali Khan and Abhishek Bachan did try to show some football skills to the amusement of the crowd. The fans cheered at every move of the game, may be more at the star rather than football. The match ended with stars appreciating the fans for their support.

From the response it can only be hoped that more people come down to watch the action when Indian football team led by Baichung Bhutia comes down to Singapore to play in the World Cup Qualifiers.