Tragic Stampede During RCB Victory Celebration Claims Lives of Young Fans
Chaos Erupts at RCB's IPL 2025 Celebration
A long-awaited celebration for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) turned tragic as at least 11 young fans lost their lives due to a stampede. The overwhelming crowd that gathered to celebrate the team's IPL 2025 victory not only faced chaos but also tarnished the reputation of the organizing bodies for their apparent negligence. The players themselves expressed their sorrow over the incident, highlighting the chaos that led to such a heartbreaking outcome.
Syed Kirmani, the wicketkeeper from India's 1983 World Cup-winning team, has voiced strong criticism regarding the disarray during RCB's victory festivities. He referred to the stampede that resulted in the deaths of 11 fans as a 'deadly welcome' for the champions. Kirmani conveyed his condolences and attributed the tragedy to inadequate planning and hasty execution by the event organizers. In an interview, he stated,
“My condolences to bereaved families. This was a deadly welcome to IPL champions. In our times, there was no such media hype and there was no TV and there was no such thing which could lead to such things.”
Kirmani further criticized the decision to hold the celebration immediately after the title win, emphasizing that the organizers should have prioritized crowd management and safety. He remarked,
“On that count I suppose if RCB waited for 17 (18) years to become champions, the organizers could have waited for a while for things to settle down and then organize a show to felicitate these great heroes of RCB.”
He also raised concerns about the growing intensity of fan obsession in the IPL era, questioning whether local teams like Karnataka would receive the same level of enthusiasm as RCB. He noted,
“The fans of our times were not as crazy as fans of today and especially in the IPL, the crazy fans are unimaginable particularly as you could see lakhs and lakhs were around just to get a glimpse of these great heroes.”
RCB clinched their first IPL trophy by defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final, with Rajat Patidar making history as the fourth debut captain to win the league.