The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally ended their 18-year wait of lifting the IPL title in June earlier this year. The side defeated Punjab Kings in the final of IPL 2025 to win the tournament for the first time in their history. It wasn't just a proud moment for the team, but for their fans as well, who had stayed loyal to them for the past 18 years.
After the side's victory in IPL final, it was announced that a victory parade and a felicitation ceremony will take place at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. However, what was supposed to be a day of joy for the RCB fans turned into an absolute nightmare as the sheer mismanagament of the event led to a stampede outside the stadium. 11 people ended up losing their lives due to the stampede and it left a dark cloud over the franchise's title celebrations. It will be quite difficult for the franchise or for their fans to forget about the unfortunate event for many years to come.
RCB's Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat has finally broken his silence on the stampede, stating that they had organized the victory parade and felicitation ceremony for their fans as they had waited for 18 long years to see the team lift the title. He also expressed his sadness for the victims of the stampede.
“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,” said Bobat regarding the sentiment that went behind the victory for the team and the city as a whole," Bobat told Cricbuzz.
“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," he added.
RCB had announced compensation for the victims
Meanwhile, following the stampede, RCB had announced a compensation of INR 10 lakh to families of the victims. They had also set up a fund called RCB Cares in order to support the people that got injured due to the stampede. In the end, this incident is something that must never happen again and events like these must be properly managed by the authorities if they do take place again.