Cricket goes on, but no accountability yet

After a lot deliberation, the Karnataka Cupboard lately cleared a proposal to permit big-ticket cricket matches, significantly these of the Indian Premier League (IPL), on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was in entrance of this venue within the coronary heart of Bengaluru that 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans died in a stampede in June 2025. The workforce’s trophy victory after a 17-year wait had led to a fan frenzy, resulting in the tragedy.

Following the incident, the State authorities, which confronted criticism for its alleged failure at crowd management, imposed a blanket ban on all matches on the stadium. It didn’t even permit the Vijay Hazare trophy with out spectators. An knowledgeable committee, led by Larger Bengaluru Authority chief M. Maheshwar Rao, had discovered that the Karnataka State Cricket Affiliation (KSCA), which runs the stadium, had not carried out the security measures advisable by the John Michael Cunha Fee after the stampede.

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However with former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad taking up as chairperson of the KSCA lately, the main target shifted to reviving cricket on the stadium. The State authorities has now given conditional approval to carry IPL matches this season, after the KSCA promised that each one security precautions can be carried out in a phased method. As RCB is the defending champion, the opening match of this season is predicted to be held right here.

The stampede additionally prompted a debate on relocating the stadium out of the Central Enterprise District space. There are 4 main sporting venues within the Central Enterprise District — M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Golf Membership, Bangalore Turf Membership, and Kanteerava Indoor Stadium — all inside a 2-kilometre radius of the State legislature. Final week, the Cupboard additionally cleared a proposal to shift racing exercise out of the Bangalore Turf Membership to Kunigal on the town’s outskirts.

Additionally Learn | Bengaluru stampede: How what was to be a victory celebration ended in a tragedy

The discussions have centred across the considered use of public land and congestion brought on by these venues. During the last eight months, there have been three proposals by the Bangalore Growth Authority, the Karnataka Housing Board, and the Larger Bengaluru Growth Authority to construct cricket stadiums on the town’s outskirts, although none of those places are properly served by public transport. Against this, as many have identified, Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Eden Gardens (Kolkata), M.A. Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai) are all positioned within the centre of those cities. Even M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is ready to stay inside the metropolis, based on the latest Cupboard choice.

The Cunha Fee advisable not holding “any massive crowd occasions” on the stadium, although it didn’t make clear whether or not this contains cricket matches. The stadium, in-built 1969, has a seating capability of 33,000 and didn’t expertise a stampede earlier than the tragedy of June 4, 2025. That episode was brought on by an unprecedented state of affairs through which a crowd of over 2.5 lakh gathered across the stadium to hitch the unticketed RCB victory celebrations. An open-air felicitation of the workforce on the steps of the Vidhana Soudha by the Chief Minister and an announcement of a victory parade of the workforce that ultimately didn’t happen contributed to the chaos.

Additionally Learn | Karnataka govt. gives conditional clearance to IPL matches at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

Utilizing the tragedy as a benchmark to ban matches was seen as a knee-jerk response aimed toward overlaying up the federal government’s personal culpability. The phrases of reference of the Cunha Fee have been additionally set in such a manner that the Fee solely examined what occurred on the stadium and didn’t take a holistic view of the incident. Although the Bengaluru Metropolis Police have been blamed and the Metropolis Commissioner was suspended in an unprecedented method, the Chief Minister’s sacking of his political secretary for his alleged function within the day’s preparations was an oblique admission of culpability. However now, as public anger over the mismanagement that led to the stampede has cooled off, the federal government has allowed KSCA to additionally resume cricket matches on the stadium.

The RCB, the occasion managers who have been a part of the victory celebrations, and the KSCA have been all booked within the stampede case. Listening to petitions filed by them difficult the FIR, the Excessive Court docket of Karnataka restrained the State police from submitting a chargesheet within the case with out their prior permission. No chargesheet has been filed but. The 5 cops suspended over the stampede have all been reinstated. As life strikes on, cricket resumes with one other IPL season. The households of the 11 who died within the stampede, nevertheless, nonetheless await justice.