Will he or will he not: Dempo players still awaiting Shah Rukh Khan’s nod

It was supposed to be a big move which would have gone a long way in boosting the prospects of football as a game in India. Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan showing Interest in Dempo Sports Club made headlines a few days ago and till now the players are eagerly awaiting for confirmation of their club's association with the superstar, says a report in The Times Of India.

"Has Shah Rukh already closed the deal? This will be a major decision for Indian football," said former India captain and Dempo midfielder Climax Lawrence.

"Shah Rukh's entry into Indian football is not just good news for the club but also for Indian football. Personally, I believe his association will change the face of Indian football," said the midfielder.

Just like Lawrence, several other Dempo players believe Shah Rukh's teaming up with the club will give ailing Indian football a new lease of life. "Recently, several corporates have shown interest in Indian football but there will never quite be anything like Shah Rukh. The sponsors will flock, there will be plenty of crowd at the stadiums and Indian football will never be the same again," said India and Dempo defender Samir Naik.

Meanwhile reminiscing his first Olympic appearance in Athens, boxer Akhil Kumar says 2004 Athens Olympics was a big learning curve and it went a long way in shaping my boxing career, writes Akhil in the DNA. “I had participated in many tournaments, but getting picked for the Olympics was a big deal. Prior to that, the biggest multi-discipline tournament I took part in was the 2003 Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad. I was a novice full of vigour when I made the cut for Athens,” writes Akhil, adding that soon after my first-round loss, I realised boxing was not only about being lion-hearted and what I lacked was planning.

“I didn’t have a strategy. I just went bang-bang-bang, but soon understood where I was going wrong. Things weren’t easy then. We were way behind the big guns. Another disadvantage was that we never had access to our opponents’ footage. For example, before stepping into the ring I knew nothing about my first-round opponent. And mind you, he was a world championship silver medallist. So you can imagine how ill-prepared we were. Thankfully, that’s not the case now.”