Mumbai: His Bollywood fortunes seem to be on the decline, but Tiger Shroff may soon find another stage to shine.
The actor with quicksilver feet, exceptional dancing skills and martial arts expertise is also a good footballer. So much so that Tiger has been named in Mumbay FC’s squad for the ongoing Durand Cup, and could make his professional debut over the next couple of weeks.
Tiger, who is training with the squad, could travel with Mumbay FC for at least one of their group-stage matches in Shillong.
“He’s registered with the squad, and we are trying our best to arrange everything. A person like Tiger, we’ll need a lot of security in tier-2, tier-3 cities. People can gather around, and it could be chaotic,” rhe team’s co-owner Zoheb Amrani told Sportstar.
“And since social media is so ruthless, things can actually escalate. Keeping that in mind, we’ve got a date from him. If everything goes well, he will definitely travel for one of the games. He’s training with the team at the moment,” Zoheb added.
The 36-year-old Tiger has been associated with Mumbay FC since its inception in 2024. Not many know that he has regularly played for the team in the Mumbai District League.
It was during a celebrity match in 2023, which featured the likes of Ranbir Kapoor and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, that Zoheb had his first look at Tiger the footballer.
“It was during an influencers’ league with personalities and former sportspersons in 2023 that I realised Tiger can play… he has that technical understanding of the game,” Zoheb recalled.
So when Zoheb founded Mumbay FC, he asked Tiger to join the players for practice sessions.
The next thing Zoheb knew was that Tiger wanted to play the game professionally.
“I got his CRS (Centralised Registration System) done. I explained to him that this is not some ordinary tournament that you just go and play. There’s proper registration, there’s a proper ID card, there’s a proper referee who checks everything. I must say he was very professional,” Zoheb said of the actor-turned-footballer’s involvement in Mumbai District League.
Very soon, Tiger could take the next leap by being a part of one of the world’s oldest football tournaments.
Mumbay FC open their campaign in Group E with a match against Langsning SC on August 3, before facing 2024 semi-finalists Shillong Lajong on August 8 and Nongkseh SS & CC on August 11.
Shillong will be waiting with bated breath for Tiger’s big debut.
