RCB director wants franchise to honour victims of Bengaluru stampede

Published - 22 Aug 2025, 22:34 IST | Updated - 22 Aug 2025, 22:52 IST

The celebrations that were supposed to honour Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s historic first IPL title turned into a horrific tragedy, with eleven people losing their lives and more than 50 being injured in a stampede outside Bengaluru’s iconic M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Months after the incident, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, has asked the franchise to honour the victims and ensure their memories remain an integral part of the team’s heritage.

The incident, which took place on June 4, witnessed thousands of fans gathered outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium to celebrate RCB’s maiden IPL title win. The crowd far exceeded the stadium’s capacity, and with barriers collapsing and no effective crowd control, resulting in a stampede resulted that claimed 11 innocent lives and left dozens injured. RCB immediately announced compensation of INR 10 lakh for each victim’s family and launched the “RCB Cares” fund to provide medical and financial support to the injured.

"Cricket and the IPL is so much about passion and enjoyment, and one of our biggest motivators is our fans. We talked during the competition that we want to win it for our fans. They've been the patient ones. Some of us are new. These fans have waited 18 years, so we wanted to do it for them, and for some of them to have lost their lives just feels incredibly sad. We look forward to being able to recognise those people and their families. Their stories become a part of our history now. Every sports team has a history, and it has a heritage. What they've experienced becomes a part of our heritage and history, and we have to honour them," he told Cricbuzz.

The stampede also triggered a government inquiry led by Justice John Michael D’Cunha. The commission announced the Chinnaswamy Stadium as fundamentally unsafe for hosting large-scale events. Its design, lack of adequate entry and exit points, poor emergency alertness, and absence of proper public access systems were all cited as serious safety risks.

The report held RCB, its event partners, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) responsible for mismanagement, while also recommending disciplinary action against several officials.

As a direct consequence, the stadium was dropped as a venue for the upcoming ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. Matches, including a semi-final and potentially the final, will now be hosted at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.