Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Dempo Sports Club-acho, bhagidar zata?

BY SUDHAKAR SHANBHAG | NTPANAJI: Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan is close to signing a deal with Dempo Sports Club, in which he will buy a sizeable stake. In a momentous move, which may boost fan-following and popularise football in Goa and the rest of India, the Kolkata Knight Riders owner, whose team won their maiden Indian Premier League crown last Sunday, is set to fulfil his dream of promoting soccer. No doubt, the stakes of Dempo Sports Club Pvt Ltd are certainly going to rise in the new football season, now that Dempo Group chairman and Club’s president, Mr Shrinivas V Dempo has officially announced that Shah Rukh Khan would connect with the I-League football winners (Dempo) in the capacity of an “investor”. Until Thursday the identity of the Bollywood star, eyeing stakes in Dempo Sports Club, was kept under wraps; but on Friday, Mr Dempo disclosed that it was none other than Shah Rukh Khan himself whose passion for sports in general and also for football had convinced him to look to Dempo SC and own stakes in the club. No doubt that SRK’s passion for sports is vindicated by the fact that he owns an IPL franchise and that his joy knew no bounds, as was evident, when his team was crowned the new IPL champs last Sunday - a moment Shah Rukh Khan had to wait for five years to celebrate. Sports has also been part of SRK’s Silver Screen venture when he played the role of an inspiring hockey coach in the popular Bollywood flick ‘Chak De India.’ Therefore, his interest to venture into a popular sport like football and show interest in another champion football club of India in Dempo, seemed to be on expected lines. Speaking to The Navhind Times on Friday, Mr Shrinivas Dempo while divulging into the details about Shah Rukh Khan’s interest in owing stakes with Dempo SC, said: “The talks are progressing. We are yet to decide on the exact details such as how much percentage share will he hold and how will he come into the set up. Certain issues need to be ironed out before we take the next step.” Mr Dempo, however, added that if Shah Rukh had to come in, he would hopefully be coming in as an “investor” in the club. “If Mr Khan comes in as an investor, he will get a Board representation to the extent of his share holding,” revealed Mr Dempo. Mr Dempo believes that SRK’s entry into Dempo SC will definitely help in increasing the club’s fan support and also boost the club’s revenue. “Besides, Mr Shah Rukh’s involvement can boost and motivate the team as well,” Mr Dempo emphasised, praising Shah Rukh Khan for being very passionate about football. Mr Dempo revealed that actually he had met the Bollywood star last year as he had come to know about his passion for football through some common friends and investment bankers. “In a sense, the talks had been initiated almost a year back when we heard through some common friends and investment bankers about Mr Shah Rukh being passionate about football. That was the time when we made a pitch to him as to why don’t you look at football.” “So when Mr Shah Rukh came to know that Dempos are interested, he immediately reciprocated and said he would like to look at football with interest as a sport. And, that’s where it all started and so it has been almost a year now that we initiated discussions with him,” stated Mr Dempo. Asked how far have the talks now actually progressed after first establishing contact with the superstar, Mr Dempo revealed that actually he had met with Shah Rukh just recently, which was a couple of months back. “Mr Shah Rukh did ask me a lot about Indian football. As things stand, we hope all the issues are settled and things are ironed out within the next month or so.” “There’s no doubt that Mr Shah Rukh has expressed interest not only in Dempo SC but has also shown an inclination to do something for Indian football and that’s very very positive,” continued the Dempo SC boss. “We are hopeful that both our lawyers will meet soon and close the deal,” Mr Dempo added. On a personal count, Mr Dempo described SRK to be an extremely pragmatic person and the one who was very well read, well informed, intelligent and a quick decision maker. “From the perspective of striking a deal we had our doubts sorted out so that hereafter we could actually look into the commercial and economical aspects of the deal. All in all, Mr Shah Rukh, apart from his greatness in acting, seemed to be a very smart businessman. In fact, it was a pleasure to be in talks with him,” signed off Mr Dempo.