Tiger Shroff is preparing to fulfil a long-held sporting ambition after being named in Mumbay FC’s squad for the upcoming Durand Cup, putting the Bollywood actor in line for his professional football debut.
According to NDTV, Mumbay FC co-owner Zoheb Amrani confirmed that Shroff is currently training with the team and could travel with the squad for one of its 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,” Zoheb 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,” he added.
Shroff has been associated with Mumbay FC since the club was established in 2024 and has regularly represented the side in the Mumbai District League.
Zoheb said he first noticed the actor’s footballing ability during an influencers’ league in 2023 that also featured actor Ranbir Kapoor and former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“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 said.
He added that he later invited Shroff to train with the newly formed club.
“He likes that slide tackle, those dribbling one-v-one moments,” Zoheb said.
What began as regular training sessions soon developed into a serious ambition, with Shroff expressing his desire to play competitive football.
“I got his CRS (Centralised Registration System) registration 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.
Mumbay FC will play all three of its Durand Cup group-stage matches at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong. The club opens its campaign against Langsning SC on 3 August before facing 2024 semi-finalists Shillong Lajong on 8 August and Nongkseh SS & CC on 11 August.
