‘Soccer Aid’ will return later this year behind closed doors.
The annual celebrity charity football match – which raises money and awareness for UNICEF – is set to go ahead in September, but the game will mirror fixtures around the world with no crowd for the first time in its 14-year history.
An insider told The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre TV column: "Everyone working on this year’s ‘Soccer Aid’ is over the moon that it can go ahead.
"Following the success of the football re-starting, the organisers are following their lead and will be hosting the game behind closed doors.
"They are still waiting to confirm a venue but hope it can go ahead at Manchester United’s ground Old Trafford, where the match was previously scheduled to take place."
As ever, the match will be broadcast on ITV, with the likes of Robbie Williams and Olly Murs set to play.
The source added: "It’ll be shown on ITV like usual and will feature most of the big name stars that were already signed up to play, including Robbie Williams – who they hope will be able to fly over from the US.
"Olly Murs is hopefully going to be able to commit to the match as the captain of the England team, while everyone is praying fellow captain Usain Bolt will also be able to take part after he confirmed previously he would be heading up World XI FC."
Given the impact of the pandemic – which has seen many music, film and sport events cancelled – it’s also thought there could be more stars available to take part.
The insider said: "Talks are taking place to see if some even bigger names could be brought on board for this one.
"The organisers want this year’s ‘Soccer Aid’ to be bigger and better than ever before and they’re going all out."