VIDEO: Ten Sports Promo of Celebrity Charity Football Match - ASFC vs AHFC

Here is the Ten Sports promo ahead of showing tomorrow at 9pm IST the highlights of the Celebrity Charity Football Match played between Bollywood Stars (All Stars FC) and Cricketers (All Hearts FC) on March 30 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

VIDEO: Bollywood Stars & Cricketers played Football for charity in Delhi

Here a report from Headlines Today on the charity football match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday titled 'Playing for Humanity' to raise money for NGO 'Magic Bus'. In the match Bollywood stars took on players from the Indian Cricket team.

Bollywood's Ranbir Kapoor new United Sikkim FC brand ambassador

On the sidelines of a Bollywood Stars vs Cricketers charity match in New Delhi, Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor was named as the new brand ambassador of struggling I-League side United Sikkim FC.

Ranbir will be supporting and helping the club and if things work out, then he could be coming to Gangtok to watch a United Sikkim match soon.

Ranbir's message for United Sikkim players, "To all the players in United Sikkim, all the best. You guys have a great leader in Baichung and I hope you guys take it up!"

"It is a great honour for United Sikkim to have Ranbir as our brand ambassador. He has millions of fans and we hope that his fans would also follow United Sikkim," said USFC CEO and Baichung Bhutia.

The Bollywood connection with United Sikkim FC already exists with Neha Dhupia, John Abraham and Rahul Bose being supporters and well-wishers of the club due to their close friendship with ex-India captain Baichung Bhutia.

VIDEO: Bollywood Star Ranbir Kapoor shows his football skills!

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor thrilled children from the Magic Bus Charity Foundation by joining them for a game of football. On Headlines Today he speaks about his love for the beautiful game and more...

VIDEO: Bollywood Star Abhishek Bachchan talks about All Star FC & Football!

In this clip Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan talks about the All Star FC team competing against the Indian Cricket Team in a Football game tonight, for the Charity 'Playing For Humanity' besides his likes in football.

Tonight Bollywood Stars & Cricketers play Football for charity in Delhi

Tonight well-known Bollywood stars and players from the Indian Cricket team will be playing a charity football match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi for a good cause titled 'Playing for Humanity' to raise money for NGO 'Magic Bus'.

The match will see the GS Worldwide Entertainment managed All Stars Football Club, which is a team of Bollywood actors, small screen actors, models, sports persons and friends take on the Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment managed, All Heart Football Club, a team of the Virat Kohli Foundation.

The All Stars FC will be captained by Abhishek Bachchan and have Ranbir Kapoor as vice-captain. Other stars who are likely to participate tonight are Dino Morea, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Marc Robinson, Shabir Ahluwalia, Karan Wahi, Ameet Gaur, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Sachin Joshi, Raj Kundra, Caesar Gonzalves, Bosco Martis, Romeo Gates, Mazhar Dalvi, Jignesh Antala, Jas Bilang, Rohan Shreshta besides sporting icons Leander Paes, Nishant Mehra and Ritwik Bhattacharya plus other icons from the entertainment industry.

On the other side Cricket World Cup star Virat Kohli is the captain for the Indian cricket team, which also includes Mahender Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and others.

Both sides know that the match is about raising money for charity, but they also want to win tonight.

The match will kick-off at 8pm IST at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Can Katrina Kaif & Deepika Padukone help promote Indian football?

Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty on Friday evening at the Goa International Football Table had made a comment that Bollywood actors and especially female stars were needed to make the beautiful game more sexy in India.

"If we are talking about making football sexy, we will have to talk to Deepika (Padukone) and Katrina (Kaif)," Sunil Shetty said at the G.I.F.T.

"Look at what David Beckham has done to American soccer. He has made a huge difference by his presence there," Sunil Shetty added.

So does Sunil Shetty have a point here? Unlike journalist colleagues who have written that Katrina Kaif and Deepika Padukone should come and play the sport, I feel that Sunil Shetty rather meant their participation in the promotion of the game in which the leading ladies of Bollywood could give added glamour to Indian football.

This would surely be something which would help Indian football, but then there would be an added cost which sponsors would have to bear.

And are they ready to do that? One has to wait and see then surely there is interest in football amongst the Bollywood heroes as is openly known about Shahrukh Khan, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and others...

Bollywood Stars & Cricketers to play football for a good cause

It is a known fact that there are big football fans in Bollywood and amongst the Indian Cricket team and for a good cause titled 'Playing for Humanity' these stars will raise money for NGO Magic Bus.

The match will be played on March 30 in New Delhi and it is being managed by GS Worldwide Entertainment and the All Stars Football Club

"ASFC is a lot of fun. We plan to do great work. It's raising the awareness for a great game, to popularise it and to raise funds and it's a very noble gesture and I'm looking forward to playing," Abhishek Bachchan said in a press release.

Ranbir Singh added, "I'm fortunate to be one of the founders of the club. Bunty Walia (GS Entertainment) came with this brilliant idea and all the profits go to the charity organizations and I think it's a great cause."

The Bollywood team will be led by Abhishek Bachchan which will also include Ranbir Singh and Arjun Kapoor; while Cricket World Cup star Virat Kohli is the captain for the Indian cricket team, which also includes Mahender Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

Shahrukh Khan to buy 50% Dempo SC stake?

Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan after finally winning Cricket's Indian Premier League title with his franchise the Kolkata Knight Riders last Sunday could now be on the verge of buying a 50% stake in Indian football club Dempo SC. The rumour has been doing rounds for a few days, but now after the Economic Times went public with the story earlier today there have been numerous reports across the Indian media and large interest about this on social media too.

Shahrukh Khan is said to be interested to buy a 50% stake in Goan football team Dempo Sports Clubs for Rs 300 Million (30 crores), but he is not the only interested party in the stake as Dempo secretary-cum-coach Armando Colaco told IANS, "Shah Rukh has shown interest in Dempo. Talks are still going on and it will take some time to finalise the deal. The modalities are yet to be worked out."

Dempo SC are currently the most successful Indian football club having won five of the last eight I-League/NFL titles, their chairman Srinivas Dempo along with the people running the club have had a vision to professionalize things at the club over the last 10 to 12 years.

Last year Dempo bought a 34% stake in Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland for 12 Million Euros to get technical know-how and create an avenue for talented Indian footballers into Europe. Further Dempo's are considering plans to rename the club after their home town of Panaji to create a bigger connect besides working on plans for an own stadium and training facilities.

If Shahrukh came on board it would not only help Dempo SC to grow as a brand, but Indian football as a whole then someone with the stature of Shahrukh would ensure extensive media coverage and surely he would work towards co-operation between Dempo SC and KKR.

But all this is future talk, first a deal needs to be struck and then signed between Dempo's and Shahrukh before all work can start then numerous Bollywood celebrities have shown interest in Indian football over the last few years, but nothing ever happened in the end.

This brings me back to something Shahrukh Khan had told me in 2004 post a press conference in Düsseldorf, Germany that he one day would surely invest in Indian football, then football besides hockey is close to his heart but sometimes decisions have to be taken from a business angle rather then an emotional connect. If he does buy a stake in Dempo's then all he said eight years ago would come true...

Interview with Gabriela Bertante (ex-Footballer now Model & Actress)

Brazilian Gabriela Bertante has made a name for herself in India as a model and now is working to establish herself as an actress in Bollywood and in regional Indian cinema. Though she has adopted to life in India, she is Brazilian and loves football, she's even played the beautiful game back home in South America but didn't know about Indian football. I had a chance to interview her about football and her passion for the game.


Gabriela people know you as a model, now you are acting; but you used to play football back in Brazil. Tell us a little more about you and football.

I love football since I was small because my brothers always played and of course I followed to cheer for them.

I played soccer almost all day, but nothing serious I just really enjoyed playing with the boys and one very important thing is I love to play without shoes! Later I started to train seriously and participate in major soccer leagues (11 A-Side) but it was in what we call Salon (5 A-Side) in Brazil I went on to participate in several championships.


As a Brazilian I guess you support the Selecao. Any club side you support?

Yes! I support CR Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro) since I was small, but I always support and cheer for the team that my brother Luis Gueguel is playing and last that was Palmeiras in Sao Paulo!


Do you have any favourite football player(s)?

First comes my brother Luis Gueguel (full name Glelberson Luís Leopoldino Bertante) and of course I love Kaka!!!


You now work in India. Do you get to watch football on TV in India?

I don't watch TV here (in India). I simply don't get the time, but when I can I watch Brazilian league matches on the Internet.


A lot of Bollywood stars do follow football. Ever spoken to them about the beautiful game of football?

Really? They do??? I was not aware!!! (laughs) Although when I spoke with cricketer Yuvraj Singh once, he told me that he likes football.


There is also football in India. Ever thought of watching live football in an Indian stadium?

I have never witnessed a match in Mumbai. But I was in Goa during Diwali and I played on the beach with the boys. It was awesome!

I would love to watch a match here too! Someone please take me :)

Interview: Steve Darby instructs Actors in a Bollywood Movie

Stephen David Darby, better known as Steve Darby, is best known as a television pundit for ESPN-Star Sports besides having coached Mohun Bagan AC last year for a few months. Now Steve is involved in an interesting Bollywood film project, where he is teaching actors to play football. Though Steve Darby is not allowed to name the film and disclose any further details he did speak to me on how it is to work with actors and compared it to coaching footballers.


Simply how did come about?

I was approached by the CEO of a company who have the sub-contract for the coordinating and directing the sports action for an upcoming Bollywood film (confidentiality clauses don't allow the film, its content or actors to be named). They are a great company that specializes in making sports in films look 'real' as well as dramatic and exciting. Which is not easy as most actors are great at acting but often have no sporting experience. Though a few I-League players could well have a Bollywood career!

They approached me as I had coached in India and also had television experience with ESPN so I understood the mechanics of filming. Which in this case is many hours of filming for a few minutes screen time.


How difficult is it to coach actors for you?

Its more difficult to Coach here than with Professionals. If I ask Sunil Chetri to hit a space 30m away he will do it first time, in this case it may never happen as the actor has never played. But they do work hard and want to do a good job. That is where my job comes in. I just try to give them the training they need to be successful and to make for some exciting and lasting sports moments for the film.

The football stars/actors in this film are useful footballers who are working very hard to make the scenes go well. They are very busy shooting nearly every day and then working on football skills on days off and even sometimes after a full day of filming. They are putting in very long hours; longer hours than the I-League players. It's important that they slow down sometimes and don't get injured. Maybe in 10 years they'll be Bollywood legends? That's what they are want, they are very driven young men. Though I found the Indian Mohun Bagan players to be the same, they worked hard and wanted to succeed and learn.


How is this work compared to coaching a football team?

Well coaching Mohun Bagan was quite a soap opera! So maybe not that different? But in reality it's totally different, a completely different set of coaching skills and management techniques are needed. Working in India helped as I also had some knowledge of Indian films.


So are you interested in Indian films? In Bollywood?

I had watched many Indian films, but my favourite was Bandit Queen. But I also enjoyed Lagaan and My name is Khan. My favourite actors are Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor for obvious reasons, and I admire Shahrukh Khan for the way he has risen to stardom from outside the Bollywood family and also appears to not take himself too seriously!

Being able to talk to the actors about films such as GOAL also helped break the ice with them, though I told them not to expect Bipasha Basu to be on this set!

So basically I have to have greater patience and look for more technical details in coaching, literally in some cases where the non-kicking foot is placed or where the head is. Something that isn't needed with professionals.