BCCI breaks silence on stampede at RCB celebrations

The frenzy surrounding Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s first ever IPL title win turned fatal on Wednesday with over 50 fans injured and 11 feared dead following a stampede near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The incident occurred while fans were attending the celebration event for the RCB team lifting the IPL 2025 trophy for the first time in the 18-year history of the T20 franchise league. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia admitted ‘some lapses’ were there on the part of the organisers. I am not in a fault finding mission at this moment without knowing the complete fact. Whenever these kinds of events are being organised, if you take the example of how BCCI organised such victory celebration after India won the T20 World Cup in West Indies last year, there was a thorough planning with local cricket association – that is the Mumbai Cricket Association – as well as the Mumbai authorities, which includes the police, the fire brigade, the disaster management authorities. When planning that magnitude of celebration in Mumbai, when there was a sea of humanity, where so many people gathered, everything happened smoothly. Not a single untoward incident occurred because all the protocols were duly followed,” Saikia said. The top official also added that the incident shows the “negative side of popularity.”