Bollywood idol Shah Rukh Khan's long awaited show in front of a home crowd - his first since moving to Mumbai in the 1990s - could have taken place next month, but for the Asian Chess Championships being held at the same time.

Sources in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said the organizers had approached them for holding the show at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium Dec 11. Unfortunately for Shah Rukh fans, the stadium had already been booked for the chess championships.

For a moment, organizers of the chess meet went into a tizzy fearing that the championship, in which up to 500 players from 23 countries are expected to compete, would be disrupted despite the rent having been deposited.

But SAI Director-General Ratan Prakash Watel assured them that no such thing would happen.

"Why should the championship be disrupted? Sports is our priority and we have given our commitment to the chess organizers and the championship will go ahead - unless they take a unilateral decision to move it elsewhere," Watel told IANS.

"They (organizers of the Shah Rukh show) had asked for half the stadium for the show, but it will not be held during the championship," he said.

The SAI decision not to allow the Shah Rukh Khan show during the championship has forced Javed Abidi, executive director of organizers National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), to wait for new dates from the star - and a new venue.

The original Temptation 2005 show was scheduled to be held in September, but was disallowed by Delhi Police at the last moment on grounds of potential law and order problems.

"After the show was disallowed in September, we got another date from Shah Rukh. But there was no venue available in Delhi on those dates," Abidi told IANS.

"Now, we have again written to him to give fresh dates next month. Shah Rukh is in the US, that's why it's taking time to decide the date," he said.

The star had given Dec 8-14 as the dates, but there are simply no indoor avenues available at the time.

"After the police told us that the show could not be held outdoors, we have to stage it at a covered venue and there are not many in Delhi," Abidi said.

Modern School, in central Delhi's Barakhamba Road was discussed as an alternate option, but the idea was dropped due to lack of parking space and insufficient entry and exit points.

Now, Abidi - and Delhi too - awaits the day when Shah Rukh's dates and a suitable venue can finally come together.