In the wake of the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, especially in Maharashtra, Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kartik Aaryan, and other Bollywood celebrities who had resumed football, will have to stop playing again.

Film producer Bunty Walia, (head of All Stars Football Club) who has been organising practice sessions for the actors, decided to call them off. The decision was taken on Friday and the message was conveyed to the actors via WhatsApp/SMS. The actors had also expressed their concerns amongst each other to discuss that they should be more responsible in view of the spike in coronavirus cases and immediately seconded Walia’s decision.

And what’s the time period that they have been told to lay off? “About three weeks, post which a call will be taken,” reveals a source.

Just a few weeks ago, Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh‘s son Ibrahim Ali Khan had joined Walia’s All Stars Football Club (ASFC). He had already played a match with Ranbir Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan when he had arrived from England last year and so, when Bunty asked him to join the ASFC Club sometime in early January, he was immediately on board. ETimes had broken the story (January 17, 2021) that Ibrahim was inducted into the team.

When contacted, Wali confirmed, “Yes, it is true that there will be no practice sessions for the next 3 weeks minimum. Every actor was of the view that extreme care needs to be exercised. We shall review the situation after 20-25 days.”

Yesterday, ETimes, in a story, explored how apprehensions have crept to surfaced about the release dates of the films that have been announced for 2021.

Going back to All-Stars Football Club matches, the big matches were scheduled to start last month in Dubai, Bengaluru, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, but with the virus still at large, they have been postponed. The practice sessions got underway in Mumbai’s suburbs- Bandra and Juhu- but things have once again come to a standstill. It goes without saying that the dates of the matches in question stand further pushed. Meanwhile, the COVID vaccination drive in the country is expected to get a boost from tomorrow with the government now having roped in the private sector.